(I attempted to list the very special books that were the potencies behind my thinking as a child and young adult, and the books that both inspirited and inspired my writing years later. For example, my first four novels were written under the spell of Gaston Bachelard; Moby-Dick was my companion when I wrote The Fountains of Neptune; Lolita breathed in my ear throughout the waking dream that became The Fan Maker’s Inquisition. Omensetter’s Luck was the book that made it impossible not to become a writer; Borges, Kafka and Detienne’s beautiful study on Adonis have never left my side.)