I am indebted to the Ucross Foundation, Ledig House, and the National Endowment for the Arts for having given me money and time while I was writing this book. I also owe great thanks to Francisco Goldman, Chris Harris, and Hilary Liftin for their enthusiastic support.
And for their indispensable and tireless assistance, which nothing, I fear, can repay, I am enormously grateful to Semi Chellas, Bill Clegg, Terry Karten, Jhumpa Lahiri, Kenna Lee-Ribas, Andrew Proctor, Adam Schnitzer, Steven Stern, and Pete Wells.