When Hack learned that Jonny was going to see an audiologist about possibly needing a hearing aid, he was so delighted that he immediately wrote this novel and gave Jonny (who also makes the artwork for Hack’s book covers) explicit instructions on what he wanted depicted in the cover art.
Alas, when Jonny came back from his appointment and reported that the doctor told him that his hearing had only a microscopic decrease from last year and he wasn’t in need of a hearing aid yet, Hack (who has two hearing aids, a pacemaker and an experimental liver made from stem cells and soy product) was so depressed that he locked himself in his van and refused to come out for three days.