I thank Dr. George Lipkin for his skin genius and giving me an informal education in dermatology; Dakis Iannou, for lending me a house to write in, and Katerina Gregos, for facilitating it; Lydia Davis, for helping me get me started on this book; Geoffrey Cruickshank Hagenbuckle, for his understanding of the tarot; and Robert Gober, for the perfect cover image. David Rattray, who hovers always in memory, is the novel’s touchstone, and Carol Mahoney, recently gone, is, even if such things can’t happen, its guardian angel. And always, thanks to David Hofstra, the bass player in my life.