Many, many thanks are due here.
To Tatu, Dar, Loulis, and also the human animals at the Chimpanzee and Human Communication Institute in Ellensburg, Washington.
To the wonderful people at the Hedgebrook Retreat, the staff and also my fellow residents, all of whom gave me encouragement and space when I needed just those things, and most especially to the amazingly awesome Ruth Ozeki for her friendship and support.
To my beloved friends Pat Murphy and Ellen Klages, who showed me the way out of a corner into which I’d written myself.
To Megan Fitzgerald for some special Bloomingtonian research.
To the many readers who looked at bits and pieces for me—Alan Elms, Michael Blumlein, Richard Russo, Debbie Smith, Donald Kochis, Carter Scholz, Michael Berry, Sara Streich, Ben Orlove, Clinton Lawrence, Melissa Sanderself, Xander Cameron, Angus MacDonald.
To Micah Perks, Jill Wolfson, and Elizabeth McKenzie, who read the entire manuscript more than once and gave me much smart and helpful criticism.
I am also very grateful to Dr. Carla Freccero for her readings and lectures on animal theory.
Heartfelt thanks to the late Wendy Weil and her associates at the Weil Agency, Emily Forland and Emma Patterson. And as always to the great Marian Wood.
But most of all, I owe this one to my daughter. She gave me the idea for this book one year as a New Year’s gift and provided excellent feedback as I wrote it. She and my son both contributed useful information on what college in the mid-’90s had looked and sounded like to them, while my husband gave me his usual necessary and unstinting support.