Acknowledgments

This book wouldn’t be the book it ended up being if it wasn’t for many people who pushed me to be a better writer and a better person, so I want to thank them all, starting with my editors Elizabeth Clementson and Robert Lasner. Thanks also goes out to my teachers along the way—both at Columbia and Iowa—Binnie Kirshenbaum, Ben Marcus, Alan Ziegler, Sam Lipsyte, Ellen Hildebrand, Amber Dermont, and Julie Orringer. Then, there are my friends, Eric Maxson, Ryan Effgen, Dave Reidy, Mike Harvkey, Johanna Lane, Mikey George, Nazgol Shifteh, Stephen Johnson, Farooq Ahmed, John O’Conner, Christopher Swetala, Claire Gutierrez, Alex Cussen, Mark Gindi, Jessica Roake, Di-naw Mengestu, E. Tyler Lindvall, Manuel Gonzales, Jonathan Blum, Josh Weil, Nic Brown, Cara Cannella, Bobby and Cara Finnegan, Mike Messier, and Brad Causey, who, even after I shoved my writing on them, still remained my friends. Of course, thank you to my mom and dad, and to my sister, Rachel. When I told you I wanted to be a writer, you began treating me like I already was one. Lastly, Rene—a long time ago, I sat across from you in a fiction workshop, and that has made all the difference.