THUS I imagine. I’ll do no more: I’m done. No recalling or anticipating, no past or future! Only the present, whose furnace it’s not, mercifully, my job to stoke.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Several works informed me about Vsevolod Meyerhold’s life, peers, and times. I am indebted in particular to two books by Edward Braun: Meyerhold on Theatre (Hill and Wang, 1969) and its update, Meyerhold: A Revolution in Theatre (University of Iowa Press, 1995). Also helpful were Robert Leach’s Vsevolod Meyerhold (Cambridge University Press, 1989), Wanda Bannour’s Meyerhold (ELA La Difference, Paris, 1996), and a guidebook, Literary Russia, prepared by Anna Benn and Rosamund Bartlett (Picador, 1997). For the poetry and plays of Vladimir Mayakovsky cited in this novel, I used The Bedbug and Selected Poetry, translated by Max Hayward and George Reavey and edited by Patricia Blake (Indiana University Press, 1975). I drew upon an amusing and erudite study by Serena Vitale, Pushkin’s Button (University of Chicago Press, 1995), for insights into what might warily be called the Russian mind.
About perfume and the making thereof, I learned a good deal from these books: Edwin T. Morris, Fragrance (Scribner’s, 1984); Elisabeth Barillé and Catharine Laroze, The Book of Perfume (Flammarion, Paris, 1995); Susan Irvine, Perfume: The Creation and Allure of Classic Fragrances (Crescent, 1995); Veniamin Kozharinov, Russian Perfumery (Sovietsky Sport, Moscow, 1998); and John Oakes, The Book of Perfumes (HarperCollins, 1996). Rick Kinsel, former Director of Curatorial Services at Coty, graciously showed me Coty’s unusual collection of rare perfume bottles. Janet Conlon of the Fragrance Foundation also provided useful information.
Many individuals helped me in many ways while I was writing this novel. Special thanks go to my colleagues and students in the Bennington Writing Seminars, and particularly to Liam Rector for bringing me aboard. Jonathan Halperin took me to Russia in the mid-1990s; the experience of living there is what prompted this book. Valeria Genzini, Antonio Romani, and Gianni Arcelli provided annual havens for writing in Cremona, Italy. I’m grateful to Luigi Brioschi for helpful comments on the book’s first draft, and for warm support throughout.
Without the readings of four people, this novel would not have become what it is—so my large thanks go to Andrea Massey, Martha Ramsey, and Alastair Reid for commenting on early drafts, and Katharine Turok for her vital endgame response. Marcia Osborne supplied helpful guidance on transliteration and other Russia-related matters. All along, my family and friends cheered me on, steadfastly: I count myself utterly blessed.
Deborah Schneider, my agent, has been a bottomless font of support. Michael Pietsch performed the crucial editorial Heimlich maneuver on this tale, then gave me the best of all gifts: time. My gratitude to both is deep and perpetual. And Pat Strachan offered me extraordinary editorial counsel, a beautifully pitched ear, and exactly the right questions. How lucky can a writer get?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Martha Cooley lives in Brooklyn, New York, and teaches in the Bennington Writing Seminars and the master’s program in creative writing at Boston University. Thirty-Three Swoons is her second novel.
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