by Larry Watson
ACKNOWLEGMENTS
BIG THANKS TO EVERYONE AT MILKWEED: Ben Barnhart, Jennifer Harmening, Ethan Rutherford, Kate Strickland, Patrick Thomas, Allison Wigen, and of course Emilie Buchwald, who started it all.
A special thanks to Daniel Slager, my editor, for his intelligence, understanding, and keen eye.
Thanks to PJ Mark, my agent, for his friendship and support.
I will be forever indebted to Ralph Vicinanza and will miss his wisdom and laughter.
Thanks to Elly Heuring and Amy Watson.
Above all, thanks to Susan, to whom this novel is dedicated.
A slightly altered version of the first three chapters appeared in The North American Review.
LARRY WATSON is the author of Montana 1948, Justice, White Crosses, Orchard, and several other novels. He is the recipient of the Milkweed National Fiction Prize, the Friends of American Writers award, two fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, and many other prizes and awards. He teaches writing and literature at Marquette University in Milwaukee, where he lives with his wife, Susan.
For more, see larry-watson.com.
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Interior design by Connie Kuhnz
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Printed on acid-free 100% postconsumer waste paper
by Friesens Corporation
The characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
© 2011, Text by Larry Watson
All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical articles or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publisher: Milkweed Editions, 1011 Washington Avenue South, Suite 300, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55415.
(800) 520-6455
www.milkweed.org
Published 2011 by Milkweed Editions
Author photo by Susan Watson
Please turn to the back of this book for a list of the sustaining funders of Milkweed Editions.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Watson, Larry, 1947–
p. cm.
eISBN : 978-1-571-31846-6
1. Life change events—Fiction. 2. Small cities—Fiction. 3. Minnesota—Fiction. 4. Psychological fiction. I. Title.
PS3573.A853A83 2011
813’.54—dc23
2011021334
This book is printed on acid-free paper.