I would like to thank my parents, Thomas and Azucena, and sister, Carla, and wife, Gwen, for their love and support. My Varvaro cousins for their stories and humor and information about attack dogs. Thanks also to Noah Lukeman, Tom Bissell, and Amy Cherry for believing in me and helping the book along. And for their fine readings of the manuscript: Drew Bennett, Maryam Keshavarz, Michael Koch, Tom Jenks, Gwen and Carla Roley, and all those people who have seen pieces of it and offered up their comments. And for their advice and encouragement: Maureen McCoy, Lamar Herrin, Helena Viramontes, Alison Lurie, and especially Dan McCall and Stephanie Vaughn.