Acknowledgments

A professor once told me that writing a book is largely a solitary enterprise. Fortunately, however, this book has been written with institutional, collegial, and familial support that makes it the result of a collective endeavor. Over the years I have come to appreciate more fully how fortuitous it was that I had the opportunity to be a member of the vital intellectual community at the University of Chicago. Especially formative in that experience were the extraordinarily varied and stimulating forums I participated in at the Reproduction of Race and Racial Ideologies Workshop and the Center for the Study of Race, Politics, and Culture. Through these entities, I began to understand my own relationship to the body of scholars in African American literary and cultural studies. I owe a special thanks to Michael Dawson for giving me an opportunity to play an active role in this public culture. Equally critical in the first phase of the project's development were the remarkable resources made available to me as a fellow at the University of Virginia's Carter G. Woodson Institute. I must express my gratitude as well to the Department of English at the Ohio State University for providing me with research leave at a key juncture in the writing process.

From the first drafts of the book to its present form, the work has been shaped by the input of what T. S. Eliot might term its better makers. I owe an immeasurable debt to Ken Warren, whose keen mind, scholarly rigor, and steadfast guidance have served as constant sources of inspiration. I cannot express how fortunate I feel to count him as a mentor and friend. And in this project's initial phases, Bill Brown, Deborah Nelson, and Elizabeth Alexander also offered invaluable criticisms and insights. In addition, the fellows at the Carter G. Woodson Institute, especially Roseanne Adderly, Adrian Gaskins, Lisa Lindquist, and Ian Strachan, read more of my drafts than they probably care to remember.

In a later stage of the book's development Steven Yao, Roxann Wheeler, Jared Gardner, and James Phelan continued to push me in refining my

148 Acknowledgments

arguments. And as the book neared publication, Arlene Keizer and Timothy Bewes helped me to further realize the promise of my own project. Michael Szalay and Sean McCann provided generative suggestions on Chapter 4. The readers at the University of Pennsylvania Press offered astute commentaries that were at once affirming and tough-minded, and in this way they helped me to raise the stakes of the book in the final stages. Also, I would be remiss if I did not thank my editor, Jerry Singer-man, for his staunch support of this book.

Of course my family was crucial in sustaining me throughout this process. My parents, Willie and Lottie, were unwavering sources of love and encouragement. And throughout the vicissitudes of this profession, my wife, Cynthia, has been my closest confidant, my truest companion, and my most balanced critic. My sons, Dylan and Evan, have been welcome reminders of the grandeur and the possibilities of life. I only hope that this book can compare in some measure with all the gifts that made it possible.