CONTENTS

PART ONE: PUTTING THINGS TOGETHER

1. NORFOLK, EARLY MARCH, 1945

2. THE HEARTBROKEN NAZI

3. LABOR

4. WIN LITTLE

5. DNA

6. RUTH

7. A WINK IN THE BARLEY

8. THINGS RUTH DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT GEORGE AT THE TIME

9. EGG AND SOLDIERS

10. A HOME FIT FOR HEROES

11. THE PERFUME OF AXLE GREASE, THE WHIFF OF HALITOSIS

12. GOOD-BYE TO ALL THAT (NEARLY)

13. THE BEST OF ROOMS, THE WORST OF ROOMS

14. 1956: THE CLOCKWORK OF HISTORY TICKS

15. AN UNSENTIMENTAL EDUCATION

16. NORFOLK FROM THE SKY

17. THE END-OF-THE-WORLD MAN

18. WIN’S MELLOWING

19. THE STRAWBERRY FIELDS, EARLY SUMMER, 1962

20. THE GIRL WHO ATE HIS HEART BUMS A SMOKE

21. THINGS CLEM DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT FRANKIE AT THE TIME

22. NERVY PASTORAL

23. A LATIN-AMERICAN INTERLUDE

24. SEEING THE FOREST FROM THE TREES

25. YOU LEARN NOTHING ABOUT SEX FROM BOOKS, ESPECIALLY IF THEY’RE BY D. H. LAWRENCE

26. MAN IS NOT AN ISLAND; HE’S A PENINSULA

27. A BIT OF CHIAROSCURO

28. THE NIGHTS DRAW IN

29. THE LIMITED OPPORTUNITIES FOR OBTAINING CONTRACEPTIVES IN NORTH NORFOLK IN 1962 . . .

PART TWO: BLOWING THINGS APART

30. WASHINGTON, D.C., TUESDAY, OCTOBER 16, 1962: “THOSE SONS A BITCHES RUSSIANS!”

31. MAD

32. HAWKS, DOVES, DOGS

33. GEORGE DOES A BIT OF TIDYING UP

34. GOOD EVENING, MY FELLOW CITIZENS

35. THE LAMBS OF GOD ARE SHORN

36. RUTH GETS THE CHOP

37. THE BOGS

38. STUMBLING TOWARD THE BRINK

39. THE SHIFTY WORD Standstill

40. THE BRINK

41. POETRY DOES THE TRICK

42. JACK AND NIKITA TALK TURKEY

43. THE DAY THE WORLD ENDED

PART THREE: PICKING UP THE PIECES

44. MY LIFE AFTER THE END OF THE WORLD

45. BAD TIMING

    AUTHOR’S NOTE