Ian Sansom - The Case of the Missing Books

And when he rang Gloria back in London there was no reply.

The signs went up around town later that day.

This was not what was supposed to happen at all.

For previous acknowledgements see The Truth About Babies (Granta Books, 2002) and Ring Road (Fourth Estate, 2004). These stand, with exceptions. In addition I would like to thank the following. (The previous terms and conditions apply: some of them are dead; most of them are strangers; the famous are not friends; none of them bears any responsibility.) I remain extremely grateful to the editors of The Enthusiast.

Robert Altman, Wes Anderson, Roger Angell, Ole Anthony, Harold Arlen, Roger Ascham, Simon Ashby, David B., Robert Baden-Powell, Stewart Bailie, Geoffrey Balderson, Bangor Rugby Football Club, John Barry, Paul Bell, William Beveridge, Steve Biddulph, O. Blaiklock, Lawrence Block, Jane Brocket, Buck 65, Lawrence Buell, Burkhard Bilger, Abraham Cahan, Jane Campion, John Candy, Ethan Canin, Joe Carey, Michael Chabon, Chase Organics, Roz Chast, George C. Chesbro, Billy Childish, Angelique Chrisafis, Agatha Christie, Susan Clarke, Rachel Cohen, Michael Collins, Captain Cook, Jacques Cousteau, Ben Cove, Damien Coyle, J. Creaghan, Yuriy Cubarenko, Matt Damon, Stuart Daniels, Susan David, Richard Deacon, Michael Deane, Mariana Della Barba, Julie Delpy, Johnny Depp, Vittorio De Sica, Fred Dibnah, Terence Patrick Dolan, Placido Domingo, Ariel Dorfman, Christopher Eccleston, Travis Elborough, Aaron Elkins, Victor Erice, Robert Fagles, Dr Feelgood, Federico Fellini, Mrs Finlay, First Bangor Scout Group, David Fitzsimons, Matthew Fletcher, Franz Ferdinand, Sasha Frere-Jones, Bill Frissell, P. Galvin, Finn Garbutt, Frances Garbutt, Luke Garbutt, Tom Gatti, Julian Germain, Ricky Gervais, Fiachra Gibbons, Christopher Guest, Half Man Half Biscuit, Tony Hargreaves, Adam HartDavis, Ethan Hawke, Fergus Henderson, Arve Henrikson, Thierry Henry, Willie Heron, I Am Kloot, Rea Irvin, Mahalia Jackson, Ashley Kahn, Keane, Atheline Kelly, Amir Khan, Mark Knopfler, Leon Kossoff, Stefan Kürten, Josh Lacey, Richard Lattimore, Chang-rae Lee, Dan Lepard, Graham Linehan, Sidney Lumet, Robert Lyle, Mrs Magowan, David Mamet, Sarfraz Manzoor, Ellie Martin, Keith Martin, Jay Martin, Rosie Martin, Steve Martin, Wendy Martin, Willy Mason, Eleanor Massey, Arthur Mathews, Duncan McCallien, Ralph McClean, John McCormick, Andrew McEwan, McGrory's Hotel, Moira McIver, Paul McKenna, Eric McKillen, Stuart McLean, Sean McMahon, Brad Meldhau, Louis Menand, Mrs Mills, Julianne Moore, Chris Moyles and Comedy Dave, Bill Murray, Julian Nangle, Willie Nelson, Christopher Nolan, Bill Oddie, Jo O'Donoghue, R. O'Hare, Orhan Pamuk, Gareth Peirce, Gilles Peterson, Michel Petrucciani, Sue Pitt, Stephen Poliakoff, Adam Pushkin, Rathgael Gymnastics Club, Rathmullan House Hotel, Satyajit Ray, Emily Reeve, M. Reeves, Django Reinhardt, Simon Reynolds, Sheila Rhodes, Paul and Amy Richards, Nicholas Rinaldi, Marilynne Robinson, Tony Robinson, Arundhati Roy, Patricia Rozema, Joe Sacco, George Saunders, Martin Scorsese, Ricardo Semler, Robert Sinclair, Paul Smith, Charles Albert Lucien Snelling, Steven Soderbergh, Aaron Sorkin, Sufjan Stevens, Ben Stiller, Anthony Swofford, Peter Tatchell, Catherine Tate, David Tattersall, P. K. Tattersall, John Taylor, The Thrills, Robert Tressell, Mark-Anthony Turnage, Gus Van Sant, Mordechai Vanunu, Lars Von Trier, Nicholas Walt, Harriet Walter, Emily Warren, Richard Weight, Hannah Westland, Karen Weston, Jo Whiley, Mrs Whiteside, Billy Wilder, Jincy Willett, Frances A. Yates, Viktor Yushchenko, Reiner Zimnik.

IAN SANSOM is the author of The Case of the Missing Books, The Truth About Babies, and The Impartial Recorder. He is a regular contributor to The Guardian and The London Review of Books. He lives in Northern Ireland.