This volume is the result of a collaboration between the artist David Hockney and poet Sir Stephen Spender, to benefit AIDS research and services to PWAs. Hockney designed the alphabet in a variety of media, and Spender induced a number of distinguished writers to contribute brief accompanying texts. They include Joyce Carol Oates, Gore Vidal, Seamus Heaney, Kazuo Ishiguro, and the list goes on. Only one writer, Norman Mailer, declined the invitation; his declination became his contribution.