Joe Montaperto, a proud native of Brooklyn and Roselle, NJ, studied acting and improv in New York, performing on both stage and screen before embarking on the city's comedy circuit in the edgy, crack riddled era of the 1980's. He later applied this training to to his one -man show, Four Degrees of Disconnection, which he performed in theaters in and around the city before becoming burned out and heading to the Ecuadorian Amazon jungle for some serios soul searching. An avid traveler and spiritual seeker, Joe prides himself on having lived in some of the worst places in the world, and still thoroughly enjoys making prank phone calls. The Edge of Whiteness is his first book.

Winning the second grade spelling bee at St. Joseph's Catholic school in Brooklyn, dressing up as a camel and invading third grade classes all over the nation to scare and educate children. Shooting poison darts with a blow gun at white people in Hoboken, NJ while swinging from tree branches and shouting - "UUUUUUUUMMMMMMBBBBAAAAAGGGGGGGAAAAAA!"