Tom Kealey and Thomas McNeely gave many thoughtful readings and provided incredible insight. They are the two greatest readers in the world and I’m keeping them forever. Elizabeth Tallent, John L’Heureux, David MacDonald and Tobias Wolff have been my mentors for the past two years and I’ve profited from their wisdom. I would have written this from an asylum if not for Gay Pierce, my surrogate grandmother and therapist, who never told me to go away, even when she had work to do.
I would also like to thank David Poindexter, who let me know that I could write whatever I wanted and he would publish it as long as it was good; Dave Eggers for making this a better book with his incredibly skillful editing; Eli Horowitz, Suzanne Kleid, Gideon Lewis-Kraus, Tommy Thornhill, and the rest of the crew at McSweeney’s and 826 Valencia. Finally, I’d like to thank Chris Cooney, Andrew Miller, Christine Fox, Chris Donahue, Eric Jenson, Wendy McKennon, Abigail Martin, Karina Arambula, Alice Poon, Julie Brannegan, Jeremiah Johnson, Jon Berry, and Ben Peterson, because good friends matter more than anything else.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Stephen Elliott was a Ward of the Court in Chicago from the ages of thirteen to eighteen. He lives in San Francisco and lectures at Stanford University. This is his fourth novel.
www.stephenelliott.com
Table of Contents
CHAPTER ONE MARIA HAS A CHILD
CHAPTER TWO LISTEN
CHAPTER THREE ACHTERBURGWAL
CHAPTER FOUR MY WIFE
CHAPTER FIVE GETTING IN GETTING OUT
CHAPTER SEVEN WHERE YOU COULD END
CHAPTER EIGHT STEVENSON HOUSE
CHAPTER NINE STOP FIRST
CHAPTER TEN THE YARD
CHAPTER ELEVEN HOME BEFORE THE LIGHTS