Elliott Holt - You Are One of Them

The following works were essential to my research for this book: Journey to the Soviet Union by Samantha Smith and The Spy Who Got Away by David Wise.

I’m also eternally grateful to:

Bill Clegg, whose faith in this manuscript and brilliant notes helped me reach the finish line, and his incomparable assistant, Shaun Dolan; Andrea Walker, whose editorial insight made this book so much better, and everyone else at the Penguin Press; and Michael Cunningham, who has helped me in too many ways to count.

Elizabeth Bishop, whose poem “In the Waiting Room” inspired the title of this book.

Brooklyn College and Himan Brown, PEN American Center, the Sewanee Writers’ Conference, the Tin House Summer Writers’ Workshop, and the Corporation of Yaddo for support.

All the incredible writers I’ve had as teachers: Jonathan Baumbach, Charles D’Ambrosio, Stacey D’Erasmo, Joshua Henkin, Diane Johnson, Wendy MacLeod, Claire Messud, Mary Morris, Jenny Offill, Peter Rock, and Steve Yarbrough; the MFA program at Brooklyn College and my inspiring colleagues there, especially Marie-Helene Bertino, Adam Brown, David Ellis, Tom Grattan, Amelia Kahaney, Reese Kwon, Helen Phillips, Anne Ray, and Mohan Sikka.

Robert McFarlane and James Woolsey for answering my research questions; Sarah Corson for knowing I’d be a writer when I was in her second-grade class at The Potomac School; my former colleagues at Saatchi & Saatchi, especially Marcia Roosevelt; Hannah Tinti, Maribeth Batcha, and the whole staff of One Story magazine, where I learned so much about editing.

The editors of the literary magazines that have published my work: Bellevue Literary Review , Guernica , and the Kenyon Review , and the ones that honored my early stories with awards: Zoetrope: All-Story and The Missouri Review ; Bill Henderson and The Pushcart Press; and Joel Whitney and Meakin Armstrong of Guernica for nominating me for the 2011 PEN Emerging Writers Award.

All my friends, especially those who offered encouragement at crucial points during the writing of this book: Laura van den Berg (who read early versions of the manuscript), Ann Marie Healy, Kate Ryan, Meghan Kenny, Anne Kauffman, Catherine Despont, Hilary Redmon, Jennifer Vanderbes, and Colson Whitehead.

And finally, my amazing family. This book would not exist without the love and support of my sisters, Lizzie and Katie, who are both brilliant readers and generous hosts. I’m also grateful to my brothers-in-law, Will Darman and Reif Larsen; my nieces, Jane and Emma; Jonathan Darman; and Vicki Weil. My wonderful father has always believed in me, even when others doubted. And my late mother, who told me everything was material for my writing, was the one who first took me to Moscow in 1993. Thank you. I love you all.