Acknowledgments

The author wishes to thank the Lannan Foundation, the Syracuse University College of Arts and Sciences, his colleagues and students in the Syracuse Creative Writing Program and English Department, and the good people at Riverhead Books, ICM, The New Yorker, Harper's, Esquire, McSweeney's, Red

Hour Films, and UltraVinyl Films for their generosity during the writing of these stories.

He also wishes to thank Paula, Caitlin, and Alena, whose love and support are constant, boundless, and essential as air.

George Saunders