Collections of stories happen over time—in this case a very long time and so there are many to thank.
The artists and those who inspired the stories in order of appearance: Eric Fischl, Sarah Jones, Halimah Marcus, Electric Literature, Gretta Johnson, Ghada Amer, Larry Gagosian, Koen van den Broek, Dan Miller, Exhibit-E, Bill Owens, Petah Coyne, Mass Moca, Hannah Tinti, One Story.
Andrea Schulz, Paul Slovak, and Emily Neuberger at Viking; Sigrid Rausing and Bella Lacey at Granta; Andrew Wylie, Sarah Chalfant, Charles Buchan, and Jin Auh at the Wylie Agency.
To the people and places who make writing possible: Jeanette Winterson, Sandi and Debbi Toksvig, Helena Kennedy—for making sure it got done. Andre Balazs, Phil Pavel, Priscilla Washam, the Chateau Marmont and the Mercer Hotel, and Sigrid Rausing again for providing me with a home when I literally had none.
Elaina Richardson, Candace Wait, and the Corporation of Yaddo. The Lewis Center for the Arts at Princeton University. My very patient and wise advisers Faith Gay, Mark H. Glick, and Stephen Breimer.
Marie Sanford, Juliet Homes, Jon Homes, and my beloved mother, Phyllis Homes, for always being there.
And the very good friends, whose hearts have supported me: Steven Harris and Lucien Rees-Roberts, Ann Tenenbaum, Rosanne Cash, Deborah Berke, Laurie Anderson, Anne Carson, Robert Currie, Jim Cass, Lynne Tillman, Leon Falk, Ali Tenenbaum Phyllis Housen, Matthew Weiner, Hyatt Bass, Jane Fine, Phil Klay, RL Goldberg, Amy Hempel, Jill Ciment, Amy Gross, and Claudia Slacik. And when one realizes how deep the threads of these stories go: Amy Godine, Rabbis Linda Motzkin and Jonathan Rubenstein at Temple Sinai in Saratoga Springs, Margot Tenenbaum, Rabbi Andy Bachman, Amy Zimmerman, and Rabbi Angela Warnick Buchdahl in NYC—because sometimes you need to check in with an authority figure.