Versions of these essays have appeared in The Rumpus, the American Prospect, Virginia Quarterly Review, Ninth Letter, Frequencies, Bookslut, Jezebel, Iron Horse Literary Review, the Los Angeles Review, BuzzFeed, and Salon. I am grateful to the editors of these publications for giving my work a home.
My agent, Maria Massie, is the greatest champion a writer can have. Cal Morgan and Maya Ziv are wonderful editors, and Cal, in particular, was so persistent in making a space for me at Harper. You know you’ve found the right people when your editor understands your love of Beverly Hills 90210. Maya and I are BFFs now. I also want to thank Mary Beth Constant for her witty, instructional care with my words. A great deal of this book was written to the sound track of Law & Order: SVU. I’m not sure what that says about me but I must give credit where credit is due. At Salon, Dave Daley and Anna North have been so welcoming of my work and made a lot of exciting opportunities possible. Isaac Fitzgerald and Julie Greicius edited my writing at The Rumpus, and I will always trust my writing in their intelligent, compassionate hands. Stephen Elliott was the first person to open the door to my nonfiction at The Rumpus, and it has been a pleasure working with him. Thanks also to Michelle Dean, Jami Attenberg, Cathy Chung, and Tracy Gonzalez. One of my brothers wants me to include a line from Bane in Dark Knight Rises in my acknowledgments, so, “You think darkness is your ally. You merely adopted the dark. I was born in it. Molded by it.” I’m hoping my parents don’t read this book, but they are beloved and have made all things possible. I am lucky.