Public Books supplied this volume’s name and so much more. For the original inspiration and plenty of room to run with it, hearty thanks to Sharon Marcus and Caitlin Zaloom. Liz Maynes-Amizade played a vital early role; Stephen Twiley and later Ben Platt were steadfast and generous editors, buttressed by superbly scrupulous copyeditors: Tristan Beach, Lou Ellingson, Caitlin Fleming, Annie Galvin, Leslie Kriesel, Bernadette Malvarca, Kirsten O’Regan, and Mimi Vu. Matthew Schratz, then hard at work completing his PhD at Brandeis, was a great research assistant; Lisa Pannella and Leah Steele were of huge indirect assistance. At Columbia University Press, Philip Leventhal and such hard-working team members as Monique Briones were generous and indispensable.
My truest thanks go to all the B-side authors who dug deep into their pasts and gave of their time in the present. I know that they share my gratitude to Public Books and Columbia University Press; I also know that each of them has debts of gratitude to friends and family akin to the ones spelled out below. So imagine a forty-fold multiplication of what follows.
As always, love and gratitude to the heart-fast friends who have suggested books or authors or simply talked through the every question that matters—and some that don’t: Liberty Aldrich, George Boulukos, Amanda Claybaugh, Theo Davis, Elizabeth Ferry, Robert Glick, Daniel Itzkovitz, Phil Joseph, Ivan Kreilkamp, Yoon Sun Lee, Chaela Pastore, Leah Price, Martin Puchner, Linda Schlossberg, Eugene Sheppard, Gillian Silverman, Vanessa Smith, Alex Star, Lucy Vinten, Rachel Yassky.
Family often but should not go without saying. Everything I can imagine accomplishing, and everything that makes it worth bothering, comes from their love, support and inspiration. My parents, Paul and Judith Plotz; the inimitable Lisa Soltani (the family you choose is best of all); and the indispensable if soon-departing Alan and Daria: without you I’m nothing. Finally, this book is dedicated to my one and only brother, the handsomest, baldest, tallest panda-hater I know. Whenever I read about the fraternal bond of union solidarity, or the French pledge of Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité, you come straight to mind.