I owe a big debt of gratitude to biologist and author Doug Chadwick, who was nice enough to meet with me, back when Dream State was merely an idea, and whose work inspired Garrett’s vocation in the novel. I’m especially indebted to The Wolverine Way, Chadwick’s account of tracking wolverines in Glacier, which greatly informed chapters 15 and 22. It’s a wonderful, important book—please read it! Research-wise, I’m also indebted to the film Finding Gulo, directed by Colin Arisman and Tyler Wilkinson-Ray, and to Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company that Addicted America, by Beth Macy.
This book wouldn’t exist without the generosity of the Noel family, particularly Gordon and Margaret Noel, who invited me to their home in northwestern Montana twenty-five years ago and have hosted me and my family there every summer since. I hope the novel does the place justice. Thanks as well to Jennifer Noel, who took time out of her crowded life to talk to me from her car. A big thanks, too, to Dr. Laeben Lester, for vetting a hundred details and letting me read aloud to him in a crowded restaurant while he was trying to enjoy his food. Thanks to Emma Snyder, for getting into the weeds with me about independent bookstores (and for running such a wonderful one herself). And thank you to Kenny Wachtel and his filmmaker friends, for letting me pester them with questions.
Heartfelt thanks to the readers, amazing critics all, who helped turn Dream State into a novel: Andrew Motion, Danielle Evans, Tom Barbash, Scott Hutchins, and Greg Martin. This would be a far worse book without your expert advice. Thanks to GM, too, for being my backcountry ski guide/avalanche safety expert.
Thanks to the MacDowell and Yaddo organizations, and to everyone at Johns Hopkins, for their generous support.
Warm thanks to my wonderful agent, Dorian Karchmar, for the three-hour Zoom feedback and for believing so strongly in the book, even well before its final form. (Wow, did I luck out when I called you back in 2002 for agent advice.) I’m immensely grateful, as well, to Thomas Gebremedhin, whose brilliant editing improved the novel in countless big and small ways. Thanks to Johanna Zwirner, Oliver Munday, Michael Goldsmith, Jess Deitcher, Andrea Monagle, Aja Pollock, Hilary DiLoreto, Casey Hampton, and everyone else at Doubleday who worked to bring Dream State into the world.
And last, first, and everywhere in between: Katharine Noel, love of my life, who helped me every inch of the way. I could not imagine writing this or any book without you.