The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart (55 page)

As for the study of the Grossbarts in particular, I am strongly indebted to several esteemed specialists in the history of
that ignoble line: Señor Ardanuy, Heer Dunn, Monsieur Rahimi, and Kyria Tanzer. In addition to their help with this adaptation,
their previous works on the subject have been a great boon and are cited accordingly. Finally, while their works are not to
be found below, the tutelage of many a non-Grossbartian historian and teacher helped me immeasurably—Steve Armstrong, Bruce
Boehrer, Margaret Burkley, Roy Campbell, Ken Foster, Doug Fowler, Don Howarth, Marlow Matherne, Rod Moorer, Paul Reifenheiser,
Mike Rychlik, Bawa Singh, Paul Strait, and Trisha Stapleton, to name but a few.

Allen, S.J. and Amt, Emile.
The Crusades: A Reader
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Ardanuy, David.
Saint Hegel: The Self-Idolatry of the Righteous in Medieval Europe
. Florida: Goat Head Walking, 1989.

Arikha, Noga.
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Atwood, Margaret.
The Handmaid’s Tale
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Barber, Richard (ed.).
Bestiary: Being an English Version of the Bodleian Library, Oxford M.S. Bodley 764 with all the Original Miniatures Produced
in Facsimile. Translated and Introduced by Richard Barber.
Great Britain: The Boydell Press, 1993.

Benton, Janetta Rebold.
The Medieval Menagerie: Animals in the Art of the Middle Ages.
New York: Abbeville Press, 1992.

Borges, Jorge Luis with Margarita Guerrero.
The Book of Imaginary Beings
. Translated by Andrew Hurley, illustrated by Peter Sis. New York: Viking Penguin, 1967.

Budge, E. A. Wallis.
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. New York: Barnes and Noble Books, 2005.

Caciola, Nancy.
Discerning Spirits: Divine and Demonic Possession in the Middle Ages
. New York: Cornell University Press, 2003.

Campbell, Michael D. “Behind the Name—the Etymology and History of First Names” (1996).
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.

Cantor, Norman F.
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. New York: Viking, 1999.

Cantor, Norman F.
In the Wake of the Plague: The Black Death and the World It Made.
New York: Harper Perennial, 2002.

Cavendish, Richard.
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. New York: The Putnam Publishing Group, 1983.

Collins, Robert O.
The Nile
. Connecticut: Yale University Press, 2002.

Constable, Giles. “The Financing of the Crusades in the Twelfth Century.” In
Outremer
: 68–88. Jerusalem: Yad Izhak Ben-Zvi Institute, 1982.

Contamine, Phillipe.
War in the Middle Ages
. Translated by Michael Jones. New York: Basil Blackwell Inc., 1984.

Curryer, Betty Nelson.
Anchors: The Illustrated History.
U.S. Naval Institute Press, 1999.

Dean, Trevor.
Crime in Medieval Europe: 1200–1550.
Great Britain: Pearson Education, 2001.

Duffy, Eamon.
Saints and Sinners: A History of the Popes
. Yale University Press, 1997.

Dunn, Travis.
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Italy: Garamond, 1982.

Ekirch, A. Roger.
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. New York: W. W. Norton and Company, 2005.

Gies, Frances and Joseph.
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. New York: Harper and Row, Publishers, 1990.

Goldschmidt, Arthur.
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. Colorado: Westview Press, 1999.

Hamilton, Bernard.
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. New York: Holmes and Meier Publishers, Inc., 1989.

Henisch, Bridget Ann.
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Hirst, Anthony and Silk, Michael (eds.).
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Housley, Norman.
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. Great Britain: Clarendon Press, 1986.

Houston, Mary G.
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Hughes, Pennethorne.
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. Great Britain: Longmans, Green, 1952.

Hume, Edgar Erskine.
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. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins Press, 1940.

Irwin, Robert.
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. Great Britain: Croom Helm, 1986.

Kagay, Donald J. and Villalon, L. J. Andrew.
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. Great Britain: The Boydell Press, 1999.

Kelly, John.
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. New York: Harper Collins Publishers, Inc., 2005.

Kottenkamp, F.
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. New York: Portland House, 1988.

Lecouteux, Claude.
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. Vermont: Inner Traditions, 2003.

Longrigg, James.
Greek Rational Medicine: Philosophy and Medicine from Alcmaeon to the Alexandrians
. Great Britain: Routledge, 1993.

Lynch, Joseph H.
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. Great Britain: Longman Group UK Limited, 1992.

Maalouf, Amin.
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. Translated by Jon Rothschild. New York: Schocken Books, 1984.

Madden, Thomas F.
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. New York: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 1999.

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. Great Britain: Cassell, 1991.

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. Massachusetts: Da Capo Press, 2004.

Morris, Jan.
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Peters, Edward.
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. Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1978.

Rahimi, Jonathan.
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. Florida: Calliope Press, 1999.

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. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001.

Russell, Jeffrey Burton and Lumsden, Douglas W.
A History of Medieval Christianity: Prophecy and Order
. New York: Peter Lang Publishing, Inc., 2000.

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. Perseus Books Group, 2004.

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. Great Britain: Williams and Norgate, 1888.

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. Greenwood Press, 1999.

Smith, Joseph Lindon.
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. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1956.

Tanzer, E. M.
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. Paris: Du Peltier Publishing, 2001.

Thompson, C. J. S.
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. Montana: Kessinger Publishing, LLC, 2003.

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. New York: Ballantine Books, 1978.

Unknown.
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Germany: Gold-dämmerung, 1882.

Vauchez, Andre.
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. Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press, 1993.

Venit, Marjorie Susan.
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. Great Britain: Cambridge University Press, 2002.

Walker, Trevor Caleb.
Black Monolith, Enter the Nexus: The Ballad of the Grossbarts
. Berkeley: Dappled Unicorn Press, 1967.

Wills, Garry.
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. New York: Simon and Schuster, Inc., 2001.

Wolff, Robert Lee and Hazard, Harry W.
A History of the Crusades, Volume II: The Later Crusades, 1189–1311
. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1969.

If only for chronological purposes, any sort of gratitude must first be directed toward my family. My parents, Bruce and Lisa,
have been indispensably helpful and patient over the years of our acquaintance, and my brother Aaron and sister Tessa have
shown me a sibling’s understanding of a sort markedly different from that of the Grossbarts. The entire multitude of my rabbit-like
extended families are likewise deserving of mention, and of course my grandparents—particularly my grandmothers Mary and Ulamae
for instilling me with a love of speculative fiction and folklore, respectively.

My wife, Raechel, inspired and encouraged me through every step of the writing process, and my partner-in-skulduggery Molly
provided invaluable assistance with the novel’s various incarnations—without Raechel this project would never have gotten
off the ground, and without Molly it might have exploded in a fireball rather than landing gently and safely, and a sight
better than when it started. John, husband of Molly and so much more, helped maintain perspective as matters progressed, and
offered the sagacity of a Buddha in all regards. Andrew Katkin and his father, Dan, both aided in ways they may never comprehend.

The coming recitation of names, of equal import to the catalog of ships in
The Iliad
, must wait a moment longer as I salute five fair folk who helped with this project and are therefore deserving of a heavy-handed
metaphor and an awful pun. Trevor, you are my thumb, conqueror of all comers and gladiatorial judge. Caleb, you are the index
finger that points the way to enlightenment. Pat, you are both defender and avenger of my honor, the middle digit. Selena,
you are that penultimate finger without which hands are but paws. Jonathan, you are the pinky to be bitten when only the fanciest
of giggles will suffice. To you five I say huzzah, and thank you.

Many others have inspired and encouraged me over the years, and while my mind is not what it once was, a handful of names
float like cream to the top of my memory mug: Lauryn, Patrick, Jimmy, Becky, Daniel, Tracy, Don, Luke, Robbie, Willem, Joyce,
Chad, Lara, Monique, Edgar, Greg, Carrie, Reinhardt, Barbara, Sean, Jeff, Rayford, Victor, Terry, Bobbie, Daylan, Nate, Mary,
Allison, Kat, Stephanie, Bill, Angelo, Debbie, Paul, Eddie, Walt, Julie, Eric, Jen, Richard, Albert, Jon, Brenna, Ross, Meg,
Ben, Shawn, Erica, Jeremy, Kido, Tom, Brooke, Sheri, Hunter, Ari, Jim, Twyla, Nick, J. T., Orrin, Clint, Music, Holly, Mike,
Marlena, and Martin; Phil, Shirley and Olivia; the Zoltens; the Family and Brothers Johnson, the Mother and Brothers Capellari;
the Maier-Katkins; the Katkins; the Maiers; the Browns; the Mastrofskis; the Greenbergs; the Reeses; the Lowells; the Jacobsons;
the Flemings; the Reeves; the Rambalskis; the Schmidts; the Kenneys; the Hoovers, the Knudson; SAIL; the baristas of All Saints
Café; the customers of Video 21; my website designer James Childress; and the memories of Alex and Jeff.

Then there are three standup fellows without whose humor and inspiration this novel would not be the work that it is. David,
your beard is as spiritual as it is physical, and I quail before its majesty and the witty portal it gilds. Travis, never
before have I encountered a tongue and brain in such harmony, each a razor of Occam’s and yet so often nice in more than the
sharp meaning of the word. Jonathan, the pinky analogy stands now and forever. I am fortunate to know them, and you are ill-fated
not to.

None of this touches on the countless writers, artists, musicians, filmmakers, game designers, actors, historical figures,
and everyone else who inspires and inspired me, but such a list would be prohibitively lengthy. A single name that demands
inclusion, however, is that of Istvan Orosz, whose art graces the cover of this very tome. Let me close by heartily praising
those who are directly responsible for this book being held before your eyes: my peerless agent Sally Harding, as well as
Suzanne Brandreth, Mary Hu, and everyone else at the Cooke Agency; my amazing editor, Tim Holman, and everyone at Orbit, particularly
Dong-Won Song, Jennifer Flax, S. B. Kleinman, Keith Hayes, Alex Lencicki, Lauren Panepinto, and Mari Okuda; and the inimitable
VanderMeers, Jeff and Ann, for their counsel, and for Jeff’s guidance to the Promised Land. Thank you one and all for your
faith in this project.