Acknowledgments

Research and writing for this book was supported by a fellowship from the Center for Humanities and the Arts at CU Boulder in the Spring of 2022 and a sabbatical leave from the College of Arts and Sciences in the fall semester of 2024. It condenses two conversations about the relation of literature to experience: the first, with Paul Fleming, now extends into its sixteenth year; the second, with Greg Laugero, to almost 18,000 miles. They have challenged me on hard climbs, waited at the top, and tempered my occasional overconfidence on descents. I thank the tetrarchs of my German-speaking world, Peter Geimer, Eva Geulen, Ralph Ubl, and Joseph Vogl, for listening and not abandoning me in these perilous times. Jeff Cox and Ann Schmiesing demonstrate every day that high administrative office at CU Boulder and deep commitment to humanistic scholarship are indeed compatible. Ed Dimendberg steered the book to port with his legendary expertise. Alison Cool provided wisdom and beans, and Anastasiya Osipova showed the warmth and brilliance that come from braving difficult circumstances. We will all have to learn this. Rick Wells always knows where to travel next. Deborah Hodges Maschietto allowed me to look at the Palazzo Spini Feroni for a whole month. Without Serafina and Jenna, none of this would have been possible.