A special thanks to Jarrett Haley, who found three short stories of mine in Aaron Burch’s Hobart eight years ago, and never stopped believing until that belief became a book, one he worked tirelessly on to improve. And to Jarrett’s family—his wife, Nicolle, and the cutest kids you’ve ever seen: Oliver, Charlotte, and Priscilla. Also Jarrett’s mother, Patricia Jordan, who typed in the countless changes and revisions.
Thank you to Elise Capron and Sandra Dijkstra at the Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency. Your enthusiasm and fierce business prowess is a gift I wasn’t expecting. Thank you!
I will be forever indebted to Kathryn Belden, fearless Scribner editor extraordinaire and friend, who took a chance on an inmate. And to Nan Graham and the rest of the good folks at Scribner who empowered her to take that chance.
To my sister, Shelley Eaton, and her family—Jim, Parker, and Grant—for all of their love and support.
To Don and Sherie Knutsen, Kris, Clint, and Lucy.
And to Warren and Arllis, my mom and dad. Anything good in these pages came from you. Thank you for all of your love and support!
* * *
It is impossible for me to describe the escape I feel when watching the Detroit Tigers for a few hours a day, 162 (and sometimes more) a year. Since 2006, when all we could buy were black-and-white TVs and the great Jim Leyland managed, they have been like dependable friends—often maddening, but always there. I would be lost and a lesser person without them!
* * *
Thanks to all my teachers at Southern Illinois U and Western Michigan U, who taught me that words could change the world: Stuart Dybek, Jaimy Gordon, Elizabeth McCracken, Beth Lordan, Carolyn Alessio, Lucia Perillo, Rodney Jones, Ricardo Cortez Cruz, and the late Kent Haruf.
To Bridgett Jensen, my “oldest” friend and sender of many books. And to friends along the way: Shelly Barton, Trace Roberson, Andrea Nolen, and Darrin Doyle.
Thank you to the literary journals that stuck my stories in their pages and gave me hope: Oyez Review, Dislocate, Bull, Hobart, Foliate Oak, Cooweescoowee, Trajectory, Iconoclast, Phantasmagoria, Beloit Fiction Journal, and Vice. And to the hundreds of journals that didn’t.
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To the incredible Kim Knutsen: my best friend, my favorite writer and funniest PhD, and the world’s best mother to the lights of my life, the reasons I’m still alive: Henry, Elijah, and Lily Rose. I would give anything to be there and not here.
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Last but not least, to the too many prisoners in the United States, who are the inspiration for these stories. I pray that we all find forgiveness, freedom, and peace. Inside and out. And my avid-reading inmate friends so far: Myrle Wheat, Craig Haskell, Michael Fritz, Lou Longoria, and Garry Steffenhagen.
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Every penny I might be fortunate enough to make as a result of my writing goes into an education fund for my kids.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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© JARRETT HALEY
CURTIS DAWKINS received an MFA in fiction writing from Western Michigan University in 2000. He has been incarcerated since 2004 for a drug-related homicide, for which he’s serving life without parole.
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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2017 by Curtis Dawkins
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First Scribner hardcover edition July 2017
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.
ISBN 978-1-5011-6229-9
ISBN 978-1-5011-6231-2 (ebook)
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