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。