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Acknowledgments All academic careers begin with teachers, and I was a fortunate student. In the History of American Civilization Program at Harvard University, David Herbert Donald and Warner Berthoff were my mentors, role models, and guardian angels. In emulating them my grasp has fallen oceans short of my reach, but their example of how things should be done continues to inspire and guide me. They also provided me with the two best pieces of advice I’ve ever received about writing. Professor Donald told me that I should always write in such a way as to be accessible to the greatest number of intelligent general readers without losing the interest of specialists. Professor Berthoff never let me forget that imprecise prose is always a sign of imprecise thought. I am also deeply grateful to Daniel Aaron, whose magnanimous soul and intellectual curiosity are unexcelled, and the late Judith Shklar for their instruction and support. As an undergraduate in history and philosophy at the University of Hartford, I was ably mentored by Arthur Shippee, Larry Prusak, William Miller, and the late Eugene Sweeney. These wonderful teachers provided me with my initial eclectic assortment of academic passions—the history of religions, philosophy, European history , socialism, and American labor history—leading me to understand the interconnectedness of pretty much everything. Their encouragement and counsel changed my life, and I am profoundly grateful to them for it. Because I’ve always been shy about foisting my work on others, I don’t have the usual small army of fellow scholars who have read this manuscript and commented at length upon it. But several friends did read parts of my drafts and made valuable suggestions: John N. Duvall, Wendy Stallard Flory, G. R. (Dick) Thompson, and Marc Dolan. I am especially indebted to my former colleague S. K. (Kip) Robisch. While much of this book was being written, he took time off from working on his definitive Wolves and the Wolf Myth in American Literature to discuss my ideas with me and to offer sage advice on several of the chapters. I’ve never had a finer colleague, and I cherish the years we worked together. I am also grateful to the editors of the Hemingway Review, Twentieth Century Literature, Mod231 232  Acknowledgments ern Fiction Studies, Studies in Short Fiction, and the Midwest Quarterly for giving me the opportunity to publish my initial efforts on Hemingway and the short story. A couple of snippets from these earlier pieces appear in this book, and an article on Hemingway’s dialogue that appeared in Twentieth Century Literature has been much revised and extended here as the eighth chapter. There are many others whose encouragement and advice have buoyed me before and during the writing of the book. Early in my career, I was shown much generosity by the late Michael S. Reynolds, the greatest of Hemingway scholars, and by Susan F. Beegel, the sterling editor of the Hemingway Review. Such kindness means the world to assistant professors , and I recall them fondly for it. I also wish to thank Mike Anesko, Ann Astell, Dorrie Armstrong, Jeff Baxter, Margie Berns, Jane Palatini Bowers, Mark Cirino, John Contreni, France Córdova, Deb Cunningham, Susan Curtis, Grace Farrell, David Flory, Lisa Karen Hartman, Julie Henderson , Doug Lamb, Stephanie LaTour, Clayton Lein, Laura McCammack, Lee Clark Mitchell, the late Charlie and Esther Mushaw, Len Neufeldt, Joe Palmer, Jill Quirk, Victor Raskin, Judy Raub, Janeen Clarke, Ryan Schneider , Tony Silva, Fara Stalker, John Stauffer, my late Uncle Jack and Aunt Adele Stotter, the late Bill Stuckey, Judy Ware, Big Syd and Jeane Weinstein, Bud Weiser, and alphabetically last but always the jewel in any crown, Patsy Yaeger. I’m also grateful to Dr. Padraic Burns, Dr. Joseph Fruland, Dr. Andrew Hart, Dr. Nancy Lyon Havlik, Dr. Robert Martin, and Dr. Richard McPherson. Over the years, my students have come first, which is the way it should be in an institution of higher learning, and they have amply rewarded me for it. There is nothing that compares to the joy of seeing one’s students grow and succeed, and the satisfaction of knowing you’ve played a part in that trajectory. I wish there were space to mention more of them, but I particularly wish to include, from my time in the history and literature program at Harvard, three students whose senior honors theses I was privileged to direct: Lois Leveen, Jack Kerkering, and the amazing Marilynn Richtarik. In my eighteen years at...

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