Acknowledgments

This book took some unexpected turns in the years that I spent writing and rewriting it; it would never have ventured upon its present path without the help of my colleagues at Brandeis. I especially thank John Burt, Mary Campbell, Billy Flesch, Timo Gilmore, and Susan Staves for their wackiness, their erudition, their habit of argument, and their forbearance. At an earlier stage, Walter Benn Michaels, Toni Morrison, and Richard Poirier made this book possible in ways they might not have suspected. Laura Kendrick kept me going, often from hundreds and sometimes from thousands of miles away. Sacvan Bercovitch, Richard Brodhead, Morton Horwitz, Mary Poovey, Carroll Smith-Rosenberg, and Alan Trachtenberg not only read various chapters, they are also vital presences throughout, offering inspiration, provocation, admonition. My dog Ishi, a vital presence as well, has done much to sharpen my thinking about luck and desert. My heartfelt gratitude goes also to the editorial staff at the University of California Press, especially Doris Kretschmer, who began supporting this book many years ago, and Alice Falk, who went over the manuscript with meticulous care. To Paul Schechter, for the pleasure of his conversations, and for his example that justice is not all, my deep thanks.

In the last letter that he wrote me, before his sudden death in 1993, my father asked about this project, reassuring me that books must sometimes take precedence over parents. I only hope that some of his wisdom and great good humor have found their way into this particular book. It is, in any case, dedicated to his memory, and will always miss having him for a reader.