Libraries, as always, make the difference between fantasy and reconstruction possible. I must thank the staffs of the New York Public Library, the New York Society Library, and the New-York Historical Society for their tireless help. I must also thank the staff of the Brook-side Museum in Ballston Spa, New York, along with the staffs of the Ballston Spa Public Library, the Saratoga Springs Public Library, and the Saratoga County Historical Society.
Perrin Wright provided not only research assistance but companionship on some mental and physical journeys which, disturbing as they were for me, were in some ways more so for her. I thank her for being so insightful, open-minded, and supportive.
Dr. Laszlo Kreizler was born during a dinner I had long ago with John Therese, who has continued to offer his friendship and advice. Both are as highly valued now as they were then.
My path through the maze of the late nineteenth-century legal system in New York State was lit by the ever-insightful Julie Glynn, attorney-at-law. In addition, she and her husband, Andy Mattson, a keen analyst of American studies, were always willing to discuss ideas and listen to tirades, all of which kept the pressure from becoming explosive. Needless to say, whatever liberties I have taken with legal procedure for drama’s sake are my own doing.
Once again, Tim Haldeman provided invaluable reactions and suggestions, as well as the friendship necessary to keep a long and difficult project going. I am in his debt.
For their supreme patience and constant encouragement, I thank my agent, Suzanne Gluck, and my editor, Ann Godoff. They endured what must sometimes have seemed the endless ramblings of a soul in torment, and I hope they know that I couldn’t have gotten through it all without them. Marsinay Smith and Enrica Gadler also smoothed the path, and I deeply appreciate their efforts.
Heather Schroeder has worked tirelessly to oversee the fates of these stories abroad, and has always exhibited understanding and patience.
For helping me stay on course, as well as extending the hand of true friendship in Mother England, I offer my sincerest thanks to Hilary Hale.
I must also acknowledge the efforts of those physicians who took pains to keep me going through several very difficult years: Ernestina Saxton, Tirso del Junco, Jr., Frank Petito, and Bruce Yaffe exhibited the kind of committed and responsive behavior that all doctors should embody but with which most, tragically, cannot be bothered. I thank them all. I offer special gratitude to Vicki Hufnagel, a pioneering surgeon who offered me hope when many others could or would not. For her efforts to illuminate several dark corners of medicine Dr. Hufnagel has consistently been rewarded with the hostility of the medical establishment, which continues to protect its blind and backward members as assiduously as it did a hundred years ago.
While this book was in its infancy, it nearly suffered the fate of many of Libby Hatch’s victims due to my wide-eyed wandering into a creative quagmire on another coast. For helping me first try to realize a difficult vision and then get back to the business of writing books I would like to thank, in order of appearance, Rene Garcia (and Risa Bramon Garcia), Betty Moos, Mike Finnell, Joe Dante, Kathy Lingg, Cynthia Schulte, Helen Mossier, Garry Hart, Bob Eisele, Dan Dugan, Thorn Polizzi, Jamie Freitag, Sandy Veneziano, Jason La Padura, Natalie Hart, Deborah Everton, Marshall Harvey, Michael Thau, Kathy Zatarga, Bill Millar, Hal Harrison and the rest of the crew at Paramount, along with-for they cannot be forgotten-John Corbett, John Pyper-Ferguson, Rod Taylor, J. Madison Wright, Darryl Theirse, Carolyn McCormick (and Byron Jennings and Cooper), Marjorie Monaghan, Joel Swetow and the rest of the cast of the Chronicles. That this book will be released before that project is evidence not of any shortcomings on their parts, but of why New York need never fear a certain desert village in Southern California as a rival for artistic innovation and cultural power.
Special gratitude goes to Lynn Freer and Jim Turner, along with my buddy and morning nemesis, Otto; John and Kathy von Hartz; my brother Simon and his wife, Cristina, along with my most reliable advisers Lydia, Sam, Ben, and Gabriella; my brother Ethan and his wife, Sarah; Maria von Hartz and Jay Shapiro; William von Hartz; Debbie Deuble; Ezequiel Vinao; Oren Jacoby; Meghann Haldeman; Ellen Blain; and the ever-reliable Tom Pivinski. I would also like to thank Marvin Cochran, and have faith that wherever he is, he'll hear me.
The completion of this book, along with the sanity of its author, were consistently aided by the remarkable sense and sensibility of Elisabeth Harnois.
About Caleb Carr
Caleb Carr is a renowned military historian and author of the seminal history of terrorism: THE LESSONS OF TERROR. He is also author of the sequel to THE ALIENIST, THE ANGEL OF DARKNESS, and the futuristic KILLING TIME. He lives in New York.
