Siblings can be the toughest critics. I thank my brothers, Till and Lucki, for reviewing the manuscript, and for their suggestions and corrections. When necessary, I’ve followed their promptings.
I had wonderful support and enthusiasm from everyone at Carl Hanser Verlag, more than it’s ever been my pleasure to experience from a publisher. I’d specifically like to acknowledge the editorial director, Jo Lendle, for, among other things, assigning an extraordinary editor to the project, Florian Kessler. The book owes everything to him. We read every sentence aloud together, to find its correct balance. Nothing was too much trouble for him.
While I can, I’d like to shout out to the Romanist Elisabeth Edl. She had nothing to do with the present book but her wonderful German translations of Flaubert reconnected me to my native language, which I’d hardly spoken for many years.
I thank Michael Krüger. It was he who implacably first got me to write. My early books, published by Hanser, would probably never have existed without him. I’d also like to thank Drenka Willen for her sage counsels, especially on translations into other languages.
Thanks also and above all to my wife, Lena. She inspired me to write this account, for which, one-sided as it is, I alone take responsibility.
Los Angeles, July 2021