Paul M. Farber - A Wall of Our Own: An American History of the Berlin Wall

The journey of this book began in Berlin. There, from my first visit in 2004 to a summer graduate residency in 2008 and nearly annual trips forward, I was drawn in by the city and its residents to explore, reflect, engage, and write. Over time, I found significant material for consideration in archives, museums, galleries, and academic conferences. I was also led to some of my most inspired and grounded thoughts while walking or biking through the city; outside in streets, parks, and waterways; around the footprint of memorials and monuments; and following the path of the former Wall and its myriad unlikely intersections and points of perspectives. Along the way, I encountered stories of American visitors and expatriates and sought out artworks and texts in which they traced their Berlin projects. In turn, I was also led to narratives of German Jewish migrs, transnational scholars and artists of color, immigrant and refugee communities, queer and feminist collectives, and many others who lived in the city, together, at one point or another. Berlin spoke to me as a space of haunt and of home, of existential angst and profound understanding, as it has for so many others seeking critical distance over the course of multiple generations. I found a city that beckons a sense of balance, even with its hard edges and the heaviest of burdens that dwell in its history and culture.

In and out of Berlin, the work of completing this book has been nourished by a sweeping group of loved ones, thoughtful mentors, and generous interlocutors. The task of sustaining the writing of the book toward completion is the responsibility of the singular author, but the projects ultimate pursuit is one of co-creation. My editor at the University of North Carolina Press, Mark Simpson-Vos, offered his early belief in this project and has followed through with immense support. He challenged and encouraged me to envision, revise, and build toward publication. I am so grateful for his wisdom and care. Thank you also to the entire team at UNC Press, especially Lucas Church, Jessica Newman, and the two anonymous peer reviewers for sharing invaluable insights that served the final revisions and refinements of this book.

I am extremely grateful to my doctoral committee, who guided and encouraged me in my graduate studies at the University of Michigan. I thank Penny Von Eschen, a phenomenal advisor and advocate. Pennys practice of lifelong mentorship, critical engagement, and compassionate care inspire me to be a better writer and teacher. Her multiple close readings of each chapter, our time spent on transatlantic phone calls, and our trips to archives and public sites of memory in Berlin and Los Angeles have all prepared me for a path of scholarship and engagement. Michael Awkwards encouragement from my first days of graduate school enabled me to have courage to go out on a limb with ideas, and his questions continue to prompt some of my most fruitful critical travels. Sara Blair showed me how to construct aspirational bibliographies and animate close readings of texts, images, and archives and invited me into new ways of seeing and sensing. Amy Sara Carroll was a sage teacher and an architect of transformative thoughts who had time and time again renewed my sense of purpose. Martin Klimke was an invaluable interlocutor who actively created pathways for me to follow. Major thanks to others who impacted my experience at Michigan, including faculty and staff members Paul Anderson, Matthew Briones, Matthew Countryman, Angela Dillard, Kevin Gaines, Kristin Hass, June Howard, Elizabeth James, David Halperin, Lawrence La Fountain-Stokes, Marlene Moore, Nadine Naber, Damani Partridge, Chaquita Willis, Magdalena Zaborowska, and many others.