ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Earlier versions of some chapters in this novel have appeared as fictions in Conjunctions, a magazine for whose loyalty I am deeply indebted through all of its history and much of mine. “The Apocalypse Museum,” in no. 37, 2001; “The Abandonment of the Family,” in no. 40, 2003; “The Piano Lesson,” in no. 44, 2005; “A Little History of Modern Music,” in no. 47, 2006, as well as in The O. Henry Prize Stories, 2008 (New York: Anchor, 2008); “Garden,” in no. 49, 2007; “Professor Skizzen Gets the Word,” in no. 53, 2009. I have pilfered a few lyrics from some old-time tunes from a quaint book called Songs That Never Grow Old by Anonymous (New York: Syndicate Publishing, 1909).