Die schönsten Buchwidmungen aller Zeiten

To the First Mother who Brings up a Happy Child.

To Mom,
Who took me to the library.

To caffeine and sugar, my companions through many a long night of writing.

It is very unnerving to be proven wrong, particularly when you are really right and the person who is really wrong is the one who is proving you wrong and proving himself, wrongly, right. Right?

What can I say about a man who knows how I think and still sleeps next to me with the lights off?

The dedication of this book is split seven ways: To Neil, to Jessica, to David, to Kenzie, to Di, to Anne, and to you, if you have stuck with Harry until the very end.

This is presented as a work of fiction and dedicated to nobody.

For Kate and Morgan
and for everyone
whose first love
was a hard love.

To all the English teachers, especially the great ones.

My first stepfather used to say that what I didn’t know would fill a book. Well, here it is.

I ask the indulgence of the children who may read this book for dedicating it to a grown-up. I have a serious reason: he is the best friend I have in the world. I have another reason: this grown-up understands everything, even books about children. I have a third reason: he lives in France where he is hungry and cold. He needs cheering up. If all these reasons are not enough, I will dedicate the book to the child from whom this grown-up grew. All grown-ups were once children– although few of them remember it. And so I correct my dedication:

To Leon Werth
When he was a little boy