Acknowledgments always give me cottonmouth. How can you possibly measure who contributes to a book of short stories? Some people were models for characters, with consent. Others were models for characters, less consensually. Some people provided support. Other people provided competition. Others still sat near me in an airport or a restaurant, just for a minute, but had a look about them that got me thinking. There are hundreds of unknown collaborators and co-conspirators who cannot be named, and of those who can be named, I will expose only a fraction of them. Thanks to Cal Morgan, for editing and publishing me. Thanks to Ira Silverberg and Ruth Curry, for representing me. Thanks to Gail, for marrying and tolerating me. Thanks to Daniel and Jake, for being top-drawer kids. Thanks to Lauren, for being a top-drawer friend. Thanks to my parents, Richard and Bernadine, and to my brothers, Aaron and Josh. And thanks, finally, to the novelists, short story writers, song-writers, and filmmakers whose work I depend upon every day of my life for…well, for life. By making things, they make the world and have helped me come a long way from unaware.