The Gardens of Desire: Marcel Proust and the Fugitive Sublime

Acknowledgments

Though this book’s cover and title page bear my name, its creation owes much to the inspiration and assistance of a select group of colleagues I would here like to acknowledge. At the University of South Florida, I wish to thank Prof. J. P. W. (Pat Rogers) for giving me the opportunity to pursue graduate studies in Proust in his seminar, to refine the focus of this book, and to get his valuable feedback on several key chapters. I would also like to thank Professors Sara Deats and Phil Sipiora for allowing me to model Rankian readings of literary works in their graduate seminars on Shakespeare and The Ex-Patriots . At the University of Tampa, I wish to thank Dean Jeff Klepfer (Psychology ) for approving the $5000 Delo grant that enabled me to commence the research on this book, for allowing me to develop and teach the Honors English course that enabled me to refine a Rankian reading of A la Recherché, and for giving me the opportunity to model Rankian readings of literary works as a guest speaker in his Honors Psychology course. I also want to extend a heartfelt thanks to the students in those Honors courses, whose lively and informed participation provided the immediate impetus to begin writing this book. At the University of Nevada, Las Vegas I wish to thank my colleagues in the English department, and particularly Prof. John Irsfeld and Prof. Darlene Unrue, for the steadfast support they have given to this project in the tenure review process, in research grants, in merit considerations, and in their appreciative comments. I owe a special word of thanks to Priscilla Finley, Research Librarian at UNLV, for her apt and enthusiastic assistance. I also want to express my gratitude to Prof. Kostas Myrsiades, Editor of College Literature , for publishing two articles related to this project. I owe a heartfelt thanks to Alexa Dvorsen, who during our years in Yosemite introduced me to the diaries of Anais Nin, in whose Paris volumes I first encountered the psychological theories of Otto Rank. A very special thanks goes to James Peltz, Editor-in-Chief at SUNY Press for his interest, support, and guidance on this project from the outset. I am also indebted to Priscilla Ross and Laurie Searl at SUNY Press for the faith and guidance they have respectively shown. A word of heartfelt gratitude goes to friends and colleagues Norm Albert and ix Acknowledgments Nancy Buonocoursi, Sid Dobrin and Christian Weisser for their steadfast support over the years. A special thought, as well, goes to Connie Sutton Fox for being there through the thick and thin of it all. I wish, also, to thank my dear colleague, Prof. David M. Marcus, for the wise counsel and warm friendship he has always kept. Finally, I want to express by deep appreciation to Bobbi Nicole Wilson whose loyalty, love, and friendship have been a heart-beacon through the vicissitudes of the last twenty years. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS x ...