Nostalgia: Origins and Ends of an Unenlightened Disease

Acknowledgments

ix Acknowledgments Introducing a book far more ambitious in scope and intent than this one, his Die Lesbarkeit der Welt (“The Legibility of the World”), Hans Blumenberg wrote, “The tenacity with which some things return and invent their metamorphoses calls for more insistent reflection than the constancy with which other things simply abide.” Blumenberg’s words proved a helpful and often needful reminder in my reflections and efforts in writing this book. If this reminder persisted through all of this study’s incremental transformations , it is thanks also to Karsten Harries, a crucial voice and help in the initial formulation of my goals, by virtue of advice as inspiring as tenaciously insistent, and counsel as often imagined as real. I remain indebted to Paul H. Fry, for offering inspiring stimulus and direction, his intellectual generosity , and unmatched perception of paths trodden, charted, and still not taken. I still have not taken in the passing of Cyrus Hamlin; the book may not have taken shape without his constant support and countless heartening conversations. For stimulating deliberations, precious feedback, and practical help along the way, I want to thank: Jackson Bliss, Karen Feldman, Theodore George, Desmond Hogan, Catherine Labio, Jonathan Luftig, Brigitte Peucker, Haun Saussy, Pamela Schirmeister, Ralph Schoolcraft, Angelika Schriever, Robert Shandley, Howard Stern, Mary Jane Stevens, Henry Sussman, Jenelle Troxell, and Allison Weiner. My gratitude extends to Gerhard Buhr and Horst Meller, as early and extraordinary teachers, and to my students who invigorated me; I need to name Peter Behrman-de Sin éty, Alexa Garvoille, Jeremy Kessler, and Eugenia Poland. This project’s early stages received a decisive stimulus thanks to a fellowship granted by the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library and the unfailingly kind assistance with rare requests I found in the History of Medicine library section of Yale’s School of Medicine. I could not have hoped for more helpful, thoughtful, and delightful responses than I received from the book’s two anonymous readers, nor for a better team to assist with this study than what I found at Northwestern University Press. I am thankful to Henry L. Carrigan Jr., senior editor and assistant director, for his brilliant presence and support throughout; to Anne Gendler and Paul Mendelson, for their scrupulous copyediting; to Ruth C. Cross, for her meticulous work on the index; to Marianne Jankowski, art x Acknowledgments director, for reading my thoughts better than I can myself; and to Peter Raccuglia , assistant acquisitions editor, for his generous assistance. My greatest debt I cannot put into words. It is to my brother for his ability to remind me of the reticent conundrums of present reality, and to my parents, for all their support and love. Nostalgia ...