The book is completed on the basis of my dissertation of the same title， which is the result of a hard process of doubting， hesitating， worrying， and gaining in confidence， as Vonnegut is a difficult writer， and animals in his fction a topic rarely touched upon。 It was with the help， encourage-ment， and love from my dear professors， classmates， friends， and family that I succeeded in pulling through。
First and foremost， I feel deeply indebted to Professor Guo Qiqing， my advisor， without whose invaluable guidance， unfailing support， and steadfast trust， any of my achievements during the Ph。 D。years would have been impossible。Not only has he given me important academic instructions and inspiration， but also wisdom and insight for life that will benefit me all my life。Professor Guo Jide， my MA advisor， has never ceased to care for me， encourage me， and push me ahead when I was lazy or timid， even long after I graduated from Shandong University。It was under his urge that I fnally made the step for the Ph。D。program。I benefted enormously， too， from the advice and suggestions of Professor Jin Li， Professor Ma Hailiang， Professor Chen Shidan， Professor Liu Shusen， and Professor Li Jin in the writing of the dissertation and the improvement of it into the present form of a monograph。
Foreign professors in the feld of animal studies and ecocriticism of-fered invaluable help， too。 Dr。Scott Slovic invited me to the University of Nevada， Reno and became my American advisor for the dissertation， who proved to have given me help in much more aspects。Dr。Greg Garrard of Bath Spa University， UK generously read my essay on Slaughterhouse-Fiveat the 2009 Peking University conference and offered important sugges-tions。Dr。Cheryll Glotfelty， in spite of her initial doubts about the feasibil-ity of my proposal， gave me the most unreserved praise after reading part of my draft and offered me a copy of bibliography of animal studies that she has used for teaching。Correspondence with eminent professors such as Erica Fudge in the UK and Linda Kalof in the US has also proved reward-ing， both academically and intellectually。
Thanks also go to my classmates， colleagues， and friends whose un-derstanding and support have been important sources of strength and spiri-tual comfort for me。 Professor Zou Huiling from Jiansu Normal University has turned from an MA classmate into a sisterly figure in my life；Tang Jiannan， Zhu Ronghua， Wen Sheng， Xie Dengpan， Li Danling， and Wang Hongxin are my“comrades in the same battle”at BFSU；Tao Ying， Zhou Chun， Long Yun， Li Wanyi， Zhang Juan， and many more of my colleagues and friends at BISU have shared with me joy and sorrow， tears and laugh-ter， support and understanding。There is also thank to Tom Hertweck， a Ph。D。candidate at UNR and a young Vonnegut scholar， and Josh Suspendor， an unknown American on-line librarian， for their generous help。
My graduate students deserve a word of thanks， too。 Ma Ning and Li Cheng， for example， have helped to borrow books and print materials in times of emergency。
I feel sincere gratitude for Beijing Foreign Studies University for giv-ing me the opportunity to visit America for half a year during my Ph。 D。studies， which proved very meaningful for the writing of the dissertation。
I am truly grateful that Beijing International Studies University has supported me for the Ph。 D。program and granted me funding for the publi-cation of the book。
Thanks also go to my editors at China Renmin University Press， for the tedious work they have done in order to bring the book to its fnal pub-lication。
Finally， I owe a deep-felt“thank you”to my family， without whose persistent support it would have been impossible for me to fnish my Ph。 D。studies and complete the dissertation。For all the years， my husband has undertaken most of the tasks of childcare and much housekeeping， trying to spare as much time as possible for me to concentrate on my research。Spe-cial thanks are for my dear daughter， who has turned from a kindergarten babe into an elementary school pupil in the course of my studies。She had to endure so much pain of separation on numerous weekends and holidays， because Mom had to work。One positive infuence I had on her， though， is that she has grown into an independent girl and a young“nature defender”，who believes animals do deserve our respect！