I am greatly indebted to the friends who assisted me over the past couple of years while this book was being written. To thank everyone by name would take up several pages, and I’m tempted to forgo the customary list of names—doing so would greatly lessen the chances of my leaving somebody out. But there are some friends whose help, particularly during a recent period of ill health, was so great that I can honestly say without them this book would never have been written: Jack Barton, Maria Beugelmans, Jeff Cranmer, Patrick Deboyser, Sarawan Dever, Gregory Dicum, Yves Domzalski, Dylan Ford, Karl Taro Greenfeld, Yishane Lee, Gabriel Mandel, Narisara Murray, Matthew Pennington, Craig Stuart and Susan Kim-Stuart, and Andy Young. I also wish to thank everyone who contributed to the “Steve Fund.” You know who you are, and this is your book as much as it is mine. I hope you all find it a worthy expression of my gratitude. Lastly, I’d like to thank my editor, Susanna Porter, and my agent, William Clark, for their patience and encouragement throughout this project.