Acknowledgements
This book is an expansion of ideas that I began to develop in the context of my dissertation, and which first found fruition in a 2015 SBL paper for which I was awarded the Paul J. Achtemeier prize for New Testament scholarship. So, to begin with, I would like to thank the Society of Biblical Literature for the recognition of my work, as it provided the impetus for the current book. The comments of the two respondents to my Achtemeier paper, Richard Burridge and Greg Sterling, were strategic in refining and shaping my argument into a book-length treatment. Burridge’s insistence that I look more closely at literary theory, in particular, dramatically influenced the direction that this book would ultimately take. Although I end up ultimately disagreeing with Burridge, he has been a helpful dialogue partner at several turns in my journey with genre. I would also like to thank Arizona Christian University and Ed Clavell for allowing me the time to work on this project. A number of other individuals helped in refining my ideas along the way as well. First, my mentor, Stanley Porter, was extremely influential on many aspects of this work, sharpening it in countless ways. My colleague and friend Sean Adams also provided very helpful feedback on the pre-publication version of the manuscript. Paul Anderson, editor of the Biblical Interpretation Series, improved the quality of the work in many ways through his insightful comments and suggestions on the path to publication. I am grateful not only for Paul’s contribution to the book, but also for his gracious decision to publish it in the Biblical Interpretation Series. Finally, I wish to thank Theo Joppe at Brill, for his editorial patience and gracious spirit in the copy editing process.