The Rule of Four (48 page)

Finally, we would both like to thank Olivier Delfosse, friend and photographer, who, for better or worse, came closer than anyone to being the third author of
The Rule of Four
.

About the Authors
                           

IAN CALDWELL was Phi Beta Kappa in history at Princeton University. He lives in Newport News, Virginia. DUSTIN THOMASON won the Hoopes Prize at Harvard University. He lives in New York City. They began writing
The Rule of Four
after graduating in 1998. The two have been best friends since they were eight years old.

THE RULE OF FOUR
A Dial Press Book / May 2004

Published by The Dial Press
A Division of Random House, Inc.
New York, New York

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the authors’ imaginations or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

The “Anonymous Elegy to the Reader” in this novel’s epigraph is taken from Francesco Colonna’s
Hypnerotomachia Poliphili
, translated by Joscelyn Godwin (©1999), and reprinted with grateful acknowledgment to Thames & Hudson publishers.

All rights reserved
Copyright © 2004 by Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason

Map © 2004 by Jeffrey L. Ward

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the publisher, except where permitted by law.

The Dial Press is a registered trademark of Random House, Inc., and the colophon is a trademark of Random House, Inc.

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www.bantamdell.com

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA

Caldwell, Ian
The rule of four / Ian Caldwell & Dustin Thomason.
    p. cm.
eISBN: 0-440-33495-0
1. Colonna, Francesco, d. 1527 Hypnerotomachia Poliphili—Fiction.
2. Young men—Fiction. 3. Male friendship—Fiction. 4. College students—Fiction. 5. Fathers and sons—Fiction. 6. Italian literature—Appreciation—Fiction. 7. Princeton (N.J.)—Fiction.
PS3603.A435 R85 2004
813/.6 22    2003070124

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