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.
Copyright © 1993 by Thom Jones
Cover design by Steve Snider
Cover copyright © 2016 by Hachette Book Group, Inc.
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First ebook edition: November 2016
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Grateful acknowledgment is made to the following publications in which some of these stories were first published: The New Yorker: “The Pugilist at Rest,” “A White Horse,” “The Black Lights”; Esquire: “Wipeout”; Harper’s: “I Want to Live!”; Buzz: “As of July 6, I Am Responsible for No Debts Other Than My Own”; Story: “Mosquitos”; Mississippi Review: “Rocket Man.”
“Purple Haze” by Jimi Hendrix. Copyright © 1967 Bella Godiva Music. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
ISBN 978-0-316-43863-6
E3-20161028-JV-NF