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The writing of this book taught me what it means to be indebted, by which I mean, in a manner not unlike that of Pushkin’s improvisor, to discover in my own work themes and viewpoints others have imparted to me over the years. Above all I owe thanks to Hugh McLean for having faith in me long before I did myself, for letting me potter about in the sloppy and, at times it seemed, purely fictitious workshop of my ideas, and finally for his friendship . Caryl Emerson and Susan Betz were invaluable in helping the book see the light of day, and I cannot thank them enough. Earlier versions were vitally shaped by the readings of Ross Metzger, Hugh McLean, Irina Paperno , and Nancy Ruttenburg. Later I got scholarly advice and collegial encouragement from, among others, Irene Masing-Delic, Melissa Frazier, Russell Valentino, Eliot Borenstein, Jenifer Presto, and Dariusz Tolczyk. My University of Virginia graduate student Michelle Viise, perhaps without realizing it, borrowed some of my ideas on Gogol and returned them in much improved form. Less directly my work has been inspired, in a variety of sometimes roundabout but often crucial ways, by those I’ve worked under and with and by their passion for the art of reading. I have been blessed at every step by great teachers of literature, including, in my undergraduate years, Dan Davidson. Hugh McLean taught me what it means to have the highest standards tempered with an impeccable sense of balance. Later Boris Gasparov and Irina Paperno came to represent for me models of what creativity can do when crossed with the finest intelligence and broad interests. At a key moment of doubt, Anne Nesbet and Eric Naiman showed me that literary scholarship could be wonderfully fun for both author and audience. And no one has been a greater inspiration and a more meticulous reader than my friend Ross Metzger, who is a constant living reminder of how much more there is to learn. Time and generous support for the writing of the book were made possible by a grant from the Title VIII Program of the Social Science Research Acknowledgments vii Council and the American Council of Learned Societies with funds provided by the State Department under the Program for Research and Training on East European Training and the Independent States of the Former Soviet Union (Title VIII). I also benefited greatly from three University of Virginia Faculty Summer Research Awards. Different versions of chapter 1 and chapter 2 appeared, respectively, in Russian Literature XLIV (1998) and Russian Review 55 (1996). Finally, it’s a pleasure to acknowledge an inspiration not connected to Russian literature: my father, whom it would take a lifetime to catch up to. This book is dedicated to the memory of my mother, who taught me how and why to think, and to Sabah Siddiqui-Herman, for an embarrassment of riches too extensive even to imagine. Acknowledgments viii ...

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