ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This is a list of people, animals, and groups to whom I’m grateful for the impact they had on my life as an author and a citizen as I worked on this novel.

Ritoozik. Tanechka and Yurochka. Vanya and Oma. Nataliya Ivanovna and Vladimir Sergeevich. Fesya, Vinya, Mika and Moka, all the Masyuki. Jin Auh, Elizabeth Pratt, and Alexandra Christie. Masie Cochran, Becky Kraemer, Nanci McCloskey, Craig Popelars, Diane Chonette, Elizabeth DeMeo, Alyssa Ogi, and everyone else at Tin House. Anne Horowitz, Jill Twist, and Jaya Miceli. Lena, Thomas, Franka, and Cash Stenzel. The Sagaydakov 3 generations. Ruth and In. Afina, Lena, Misha Anastasiadi, Anton, and Misha Bolshakov. Sergey Radchenko. Tanya Denisova. Polina Zemlicka, Anastasia Chukovskaya, Nastya Matrokhina, Anna Koubeeva, Kalouda Saginidou, Ivan Smekalov, Katya Nikitina, Daniel Kashnitsky and family, Fabrice Kanda and kids, Dmitriy Mironenko, all friends found and lost in time. Francesca Giacco, Jenessa Abrams, Madelaine Lucas, Afia Atakora, Raluca Albu, Adrianne Bonilla, Siobhan Southern, Danny Tehrani, Olivia Ciacci, Supipi Weerasuriya, Miriam Kumaradoss, Courtney Campbell, and all the kind hearts of the Coven and Morningside Heights. Julia Szyndzielorz, Daniel Martini, Mariah Whelan, Harriett MacMillan, Freddie Gilder, Sam Brett, Gabrielle Mowat, Jana Casale, Maya C. Popa, and all the beautiful Moodlers. Irina Tataurova, and all the smokers of Parsons. Nour Sabbagh, Charles Billot, Rawan, Talal the pickle, and the Communititties. Lauty, Ceci, Kolya Rackers, Gera, Lyusya, Boilek, Henry Hakamäki and Safie, Nemanja Lukić, Gosha Rogov, Giovanny Simon, Kayla Popuchet, Jonathan, Lily Lynch, Anna Tse, Evgenia Kovda and Yasha Levine, Marlon Ettinger, Laura Ruggeri, Esha Krishnaswamy, Ivan Shogolev, Daur Dbar, Anton Pleschyov, Alexey Sakhnin, Yury Smirnov, Anatoli Ulyanov, Roderic Day, Denis Lavinski, Zaina Arekat, Favour Jubilee, and all my wonderful comrades near and far. Alexander Chee, Darryl Pinckney, Paul Beatty, Hilton Als, David Ebershoff, James Cañón, Karim Dimechkie, Erroll McDonald, Ellen Umansky, Greg Baxter, Brenda Wineapple, Binnie Kirschenbaum, Clarence Coo, and John P McShane. Elise Valmorbida, Jamie Nuttgens, Marti Leimbach, Amal Chatterjee, Frank Egerton, Rebecca Rue, Clare Morgan, Jane Draycott, and Jenny Lewis. Alice Peinado, Frederique Krupa, and Mark Tungate. Manana Kerimovna, Olga Pavlovna, and the man who taught me to read. Inez Wade and Barry. Irina Morozova, Ilya Kulyakin, Oxana, Małgorzata. Drs. Bertini, Dolman, Cooperman, Benvenisty, and all their wonderful assistants. Folks at 200C, 34D, 7D, PD and 61B, and Antonio. Solomenniye Yenoty, Lisichkin Khleb. RIP Boris Belokurov-Usov. And above all, thank you to all those on the periphery, the wretched of the earth, those who labor and toil to build our world, those who remain unseen. It is because of you and for you that I see and write, and my eternal loyalty is to you.