In constructing the mirage world, I drew upon many sources, including works by Peter Bergen, Mark Bowden, Anne Garrels, Shahla Haeri, William R. Polk, Thomas E. Ricks, Zainab Salbi, David Thibodeau, Evan Wright, Lawrence Wright, and Amira El-Zein. Quotations from the Quran are taken from Abdullah Yusuf Ali’s English-language translation. Bible quotations are taken from various translations, including the New International Version, the New Revised Standard, and the King James.
Finally, I am indebted to Karen Glass and Caitlin Foito, who started me on my way by asking me to tell them a story. It’s taken four and a half years, and the end result is surely not what they had in mind, but I am grateful they made the wish.
About the Author
MATT RUFF was born in New York City in 1965. He is the author of the award-winning novels Bad Monkeys and Set This House in Order, as well as the cult classics Fool on the Hill and Sewer, Gas & Electric. He is the recipient of a 2006 National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship. Ruff lives in Seattle with his wife, Lisa Gold.
Visit Matt Ruff on the web at www.bymattruff.com.
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Also by Matt Ruff
Bad Monkeys
Fool on the Hill
Set This House in Order: A Romance of Souls
Sewer, Gas & Electric: The Public Works Trilogy
Credits
Jacket Design by Oliver Munday
Copyright
THE MIRAGE. Copyright © 2012 by Matt Ruff. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
FIRST EDITION
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Ruff, Matt.
The mirage / Matt Ruff.—1st ed.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-0-06-197622-3
I. Title.
PS3568.U3615M57 2011
813'.54—dc22
2011012895
12 13 14 15 16 OV/RRD 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Epub Edition © JANUARY 2012 ISBN: 9780062097934
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