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Working on this book has been a baaaaaaad experience, by which I mean, lest there be any ambiguity at all in a vital and confusing matter of contemporary lingo, it has been wonderful. To edit a gathering of zestful, charming, and learned individuals such as one finds in these pages is the sort of delight for which an editor yearns but cannot expect to experience, and so I am moved to a very special gratitude. The contributors here have worked not only with grace and acumen but also with considerable wit and good humor, a major contribution because this book was produced during a time of profound and widespread social and personal stress that in one way or another has affected us all. My efforts have been cheered and assisted by several sweet friends and generous colleagues, among whom I particularly wish to thank Keith Alnwick, Toronto; David Del Valle, Beverly Hills; Wheeler Winston Dixon, Lincoln; Lucy Fischer, Pittsburgh; Lester Friedman, Chicago; Frances Gateward , Ann Arbor; Barry Keith Grant, St. Catharines; Kirsty Henderson, Toronto; Nathan Holmes, Toronto; David Kerr, Montreal and Toronto; Marcia Landy, Pittsburgh; Robin MacDonald, Toronto; Charles Oberdorf, Toronto; Davina Pardo, Toronto; Ellen Seiter, San Diego; Vappu Tyyskä, Toronto; Tony Williams, Carbondale; Carolyn Zeifman, Toronto; and Kate Zieman, Toronto. I am especially thankful to Chris Buck, Brooklyn, Toronto, and Los Angeles, not only for his kindness but also for his keen eye. Andrew Hunter, Toronto, has been a warm-hearted chum and also a high-level sounding board—the latter very often without having been so informed, since I almost never like to talk openly about current writing projects while at the same time I love to have consultation. The Office of Research Services at Ryerson University, especially Robert Dirstein, Mary Jane Curtis, and Rose Jackson, have generously supported this project. A C K N O W L E D G M E N T S xvii Curtis Maloley is a research assistant of depth, erudition, precision, affability, and trust. He also has a strength I find continually inspiring, and one without which I think no volume such as this could really succeed, and that is genuine curiosity. Steven Alan Carr, Fort Wayne and Washington, has given substantially of his time and expertise, his cheer, and his encouragement, for all of which I cannot fully enough say thank you. And my friend Peter Lehman, Tempe, has given his wise wit—which is something very genuine and quite immense; without him, my Energizer bunny would have hit the dirt, I fear. My amicable colleagues at State University of New York Press, James Peltz and Marilyn Semerad, have been stalwart, meticulous, devoted, and utterly responsive to my too multitudinous editorial concerns. Thanks also to freelance copyhappy collaborators are in this book as much as those of us whose names are on the pages. It is, of course, entirely conventional on an Acknowledgments page to acknowledge one’s family. Both Nellie Perret and Ariel Pomerance have been with me in my writing for a long time, and simply to mention the fact that I could not have done a stitch of the work this book required without their continuing sacrifice, assistance, good spirit, wit, and love just doesn’t come near saying what has to be said. Because it was a family endeavor, this book is of them as much as it is to them. Yet it was indeed Nellie who shared the birth of this project with James Peltz and myself, improbably enough over very good lemon cake and tea. I hope the delicious piquancy of that snack is still here to be found, and will always be remembered. xviii BAD editor Therese Myers, and freelance cover designer Amy Stirnkorb. These ...

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