Dancing with the Tiger (35 page)

This is my first work of fiction, and I had a lot of help. Without Gail Greiner, there would be no book. Without Floating House, the book would still not be finished. My wonderful agent, Molly Friedrich, supported me at every juncture with her intelligence, wit, and affection. I am forever grateful to Marian Wood, editor supreme, who believed in the Tiger and fought for it, and Anna Jardine, the brilliant copy editor who saved me more than a thousand times.

Many friends read early drafts and provided advice and encouragement: Sarah McAdams, Greg Schwipps, Chris White, Dan Barden, Anastasia Wells, Susan Hahn, Gigi Fenlon, Barbara and Tony Graham, Dan Pool, Cindy O'Dell, Jonathan Coleman, Tom Chiarella, Claudia Mills, Alejandro Puga, Rebecca Schindler, and Eugene Pool. I am lucky to have such generous friends.

I am indebted to Craig Childs for his book
Finders Keepers
, a fascinating investigation of the philosophical and practical controversies surrounding archaeological excavation. Several key lines of this novel come from his book, including the opening epigraph and “Even ugly things become beautiful after sixty years.” Also this passage, which I slightly altered: “We threaten to devour the world with all our touching, starting with the things we adore most.”

The
retablos
were adapted from the book
Infinitas Gracias
by Alfredo Vilchis Roque and Pierre Schwartz. Other books I used for reference include:
Folk Wisdom of Mexico
by Jeff M. Sellers;
Masks of Mexico
by Barbara Mauldin;
Mask Arts of Mexico
by Ruth D. Lechuga and Chloë Sayer; and
El Sicario: The Autobiography of a Mexican Assassin
, edited by Molly Molloy and Charles Bowden. The translation from the Huehuetlatolli comes from
Handbook to Life in the Aztec World
, by Manuel Aguilar-Moreno. The excerpts of
Pedro Páramo
are from the English translation by Margaret Sayers Peden.

Many thanks to the John and Janice Fisher Fund at DePauw University and to the Great Lakes Colleges Association's New Directions Initiative, funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Finally, I want to thank Peter, Madeline, and Lincoln, my dear family, my fellow travelers, who mean the world to me.

During her many trips to Mexico,
Lili Wright
has studied Spanish, lived with Mexican families, worked as a journalist, watched dancing tigers parade down the streets, visited ghost towns, and started her own mask collection. She earned her MFA in nonfiction writing at Columbia University. Author of the travel memoir
Learning to Float
, she lives with her husband and two children in Greencastle, Indiana, and teaches English at DePauw University.

 

liliwright.com

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