I should write, you insisted.
I wasn’t a writer, I said. I couldn’t do it.
So, you plunged.
Acknowledgments
I am indebted to many who have helped with this book:
to the doctors who were kind enough to answer so many questions: Yana Najjar, Ethan Schram, Sophie Gadeon, Peter Pollack, and Fatima Karaki—
to Susan Stryker, who helped with all trans-related questions and quite a bit more—
to those who helped point and prod me in the right direction: Lina Sergie Attar, Lina Sinjab, Lina Sergie Atassi, Laure Chedrawi, Tony Chakar, Anissa Helou, Kim Ghattas, Zora O’Neill, Jeanne Carstensen, Marsha Williams, Brad Adams, Sarah Schulman, and Damian Ardestani/XOV—
to Alia Malek, Marwan Hisham, Molly Crabapple, and Rania Abouzeid for writing books that informed this one—
to those who read early drafts of the manuscript: Raja Haddad, Reese Kwon, Naheed Bashir, William Zimmerman, Oscar Villalon, and Pamela Wilson—
to Joy Johannessen, for her early editorial help—
to Elisabeth Schmitz, Deb Seager, John Mark Boling, and everybody at Grove—
to Duvall Osteen, Grace Dietshe, Maya Solovej, and everyone at Aragi—
to Nicole Aragi, of course—
and most of all, to all the Syrians who were generous enough to tell me their stories, who were kind enough to spend time, who always offered sweet tea.
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