There is a predictable social rhythm to writing books, in my experience at least: they begin very close to solitude, the writer alone with his or her ideas, and they stay in that intimate space for months, sometimes years, interrupted only by the occasional interview or conversation with an editor. And then, as publication nears, the circle widens: suddenly a dozen people are reading and helping usher a rough, unformed manuscript into life as a polished final product. And then the book hits the shelves, and all that work becomes almost terrifyingly public, with thousands of bookstore employees, reviewers, radio interviewers, and readers interacting with words that began their life in such a private embrace. And then the whole cycle starts all over again.
But this book followed a completely different pattern. It was a social, collaborative process from the very beginning, thanks to the simultaneous development of our PBS/BBC television series. The stories and observations—not to mention the overarching structure of the book—evolved out of hundreds of conversations: in California and London and New York and Washington, via e-mail and Skype, with dozens of people. Making the series and book was the hardest work I have ever done in my life—and not just when they forced me to descend into the sewers of San Francisco. But it was also the most rewarding work I’ve ever done, in large part because my collaborators were such inventive and entertaining people. This book has benefited from their intelligence and support in a thousand different ways.
My gratitude begins with the irrepressible Jane Root, who persuaded me to try my hand at television, and remained a tireless champion of this project throughout its life. (Thanks to Michael Jackson for introducing us so many years ago.) As producers, Peter Lovering, Phil Craig, and Diene Petterle shaped the ideas and narratives in this book with great skill and creativity, as did the directors Julian Jones, Paul Olding, and Nic Stacey. A project this complex, with so many potential narrative threads, would have been almost impossible to complete without the help of our researchers and story producers, Jemila Twinch, Simon Willgoss, Rowan Greenaway, Robert MacAndrew, Gemma Hagen, Jack Chapman, Jez Bradshaw, and Miriam Reeves. I’d also like to thank Helena Tait, Kirsty Urquhart-Davies, Jenny Wolf, and the rest of the team at Nutopia. (Not to mention the brilliant illustrators at Peepshow Collective.) At PBS I’m indebted to the extraordinary vote of confidence from Beth Hoppe and Bill Gardner, as well as from Jennifer Lawson at CPB, Dave Davis from OPB, and Martin Davidson at the BBC.
A book that covers so many different fields can only succeed by drawing on the expertise of others. I’m grateful to the many talented people we interviewed for this project, some of whom were kind enough to read portions of the manuscript in draft: Terri Adams, Katherine Ashenburg, Rosa Barovier, Stewart Brand, Jason Brown, Dr. Ray Briggs, Stan Bunger, Kevin Connor, Gene Chruszcs, John DeGenova, Jason Deichler, Jacques Desbois, Dr. Mike Dunne, Caterina Fake, Kevin Fitzpatrick, Gai Gherardi, David Giovannoni, Peggi Godwin, Thomas Goetz, Alvin Hall, Grant Hill, Sharon Hudgens, Kevin Kelly, Craig Koslofsky, Alan MacFarlane, David Marshall, Demetrios Matsakis, Alexis McCrossen, Holley Muraco, Lyndon Murray, Bernard Nagengast, Max Nova, Mark Osterman, Blair Perkins, Lawrence Pettinelli, Dr. Rachel Rampy, Iegor Reznikoff, Eamon Ryan, Jennifer Ryan, Michael D. Ryan, Steven Ruzin, Davide Salvatore, Tom Scheffer, Eric B. Schultz, Emily Thompson, Jerri Thrasher, Bill Wasik, Jeff Young, Ed Yong, and Carl Zimmer.
At Riverhead, my editor and publisher Geoffrey Kloske’s usual astute sense of what the book needed editorially was accompanied by an artful vision of the book’s design that shaped the project from the very beginning. Thanks also to Casey Blue James, Hal Fessenden, and Kate Stark at Riverhead, and my UK publishers, Stefan McGrath and Josephine Greywoode. As always, thanks to my agent, Lydia Wills, for keeping faith in this project for almost half a decade.
Finally, my love and gratitude to my wife, Alexa, and my sons, Clay, Rowan, and Dean. Writing books for a living has generally meant that I spend more time with them, procrastinating by puttering around the house and chatting with Alexa, picking the kids up from school. But this project took me away from home more than it kept me there. So thanks to all four of you for tolerating my absences. Hopefully they made the heart grow fonder. I know they did mine.