ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Thanks to the late Brother McNally for his encouragement during my secondary school education, Brendan Ward for his advice in Monaghan and his support in New York, Kathleen O’Malley and Alan Bergeron for their kindness and friendship, Will Irwin for his wise counsel and unstinting generosity, Dr. Susan Lohafer, the most gifted teacher I know, whose commanding intellect is matched only by her gentle nature, and Jennifer Barth at Henry Holt for her careful editing and gracious manner. Finally to my agent, Beth Vesel for the maybe—Mazel Tov.