There is in fact an Elberta, Alabama, but the setting of this book is a town and a landscape of my own creation.
I owe much to the work of many writers who came before me, among them: Rick Bragg, Larry Brown, Gladys Chambless, William Faulkner, William Gay, Barry Hannah, Zora Neale Hurston, Edward P. Jones, Rodney Jones, Harper Lee, Gabriel García Márquez, Carson McCullers, Lewis Nordan, Flannery O’Connor, Charles Portis, Jessica Sampley, Brad Watson and Katherine Tucker Windham.
I’d like to thank all the folks at Picador who had a hand in bringing this book into the world. Especially Elizabeth Bruce, who so deftly inhabited the voices in these pages and, in her editing, strengthened my vision in ways that both startled and thrilled me.
Thank you to Amelia Atlas at ICM for advocating for this book to exist on its own terms. I couldn’t have asked for a better agent beside me throughout the publication process.
Thank you to every teacher who encouraged me to write. Especially Marcia Adkins at Bevill State Community College, Rick Bragg and Bill Keller at The University of Alabama, Teressa Andrews at Meek High School, and Elizabeth Miller at Farmstead Elementary School, who, after I’d sped through my first-grade classwork, would sit me down at a table and charge me with making up stories for her.
The University of Wyoming’s Creative Writing MFA program gave me a vocabulary and a framework for grappling with the work writers must do. Most importantly, the program allowed me the luxury of time to write in one of the most gorgeous places on this earth. Moving to Laramie was the best decision I ever made; I wouldn’t be the man or the writer I am today without those years spent on the high prairie. Thank you to all UW folks who read my work and let me read theirs. Especially Tim Raymond, who graciously read a draft of this book and encouraged me during a time when I needed it.
I’d also like to thank The Jentel Artist Residency Program in Banner, Wyoming, for its support and the time to work on an early draft of this book with beautiful views of the Bighorn Mountains.
Thank you to Jason Burge for being a Southern lifeline out West. Those weekends spent cooking, watching college football, hunting, drinking, and listening to you talk about books had a profound impact on my work and will continue to for as long as I write.
Dan Freije for countless hours of unmatched conversation. Your loyal friendship has been a balm during the ups and downs of writing this book.
Alyson Hagy for friendship, challenging me to always consider why I write, advising me to get a dog, and treating me like a peer when I could claim but a handful of unfinished stories to my name.
Brad Watson for being a friend, a mentor, and an exacting writer. Every writer needs a place to claw and scratch his way toward, even though he’ll never get there. Brad, your work is that place for me. Thank you for your unflagging support.
Joy Williams for tough feedback, the books you have introduced me to, and for so thoroughly appreciating my karaoke performance in Portland, Oregon, that one summer.
To all my Wyoming friends—Go Pokes!
Thank you to Lee Bains III for reading more drafts of this book than anybody else. Lee, you continue to show me what it means to be an artist and a man. Your music keeps me going, and I’m thankful every day that we stumbled our way into each other’s lives.
Nathan Barfield for believing in me when there was not a lick of credible evidence to support doing so. Thank you, Nate, for teaching me what it’s like to have a brother.
Blaine Duncan for being a true friend and encouraging my work early on. I’ll always hold dear our time spent in Tuscaloosa.
Philip Williams for friendship that truly feels free from judgment and filled with love. Thank you for every last one of those days at Lewis-Smith Lake.
To all my Alabama friends, especially Bo Hicks, Kelly Duncan, Meghan Holmes, Matt Patton, D.J. Saldana, Jenny Sanders, Aaron Suttles and T.D. Wood—Roll Tide!
I am blessed to have grown up in a big family. Thank you to all my kin. Especially Jimmie Nell, Naint, Aunt Bill and Aunt Jo. Love y’all.
Thank you to Ark, Galina and Mark Zhorov for the warmth and love and the food and drinks you’ve shared, which has made it much easier for me to live far from home.
Margaret Louise Johnson for showing me how to age with humor and honesty. Your appreciation for classic country music and Southern cooking helped me figure out who I am. Thank you, Granny, for the stories you told me these last several years.
Jessica Sampley for giving me a copy of Larry Brown’s Dirty Work when I turned fourteen. I have been changed ever since. Jec, you expanded my worldview in innumerable ways. I’ll never be able to repay you, but I can and do thank you for it.
Celia Sampley for all you’ve passed down through our family. Because of you I love nature and Elvis Presley and storytelling and laughing and animals and gospel music and talking to folks. This book wouldn’t exist without all your words, MawMaw, and all those miles we tromped together through forest and field.
Savannah Johnson for being my best friend and a sibling I can aspire to be like. I don’t know what I’d do without you on this earth, Sister.
Debra and Ronnie Johnson for modeling hard work and humility. Thank y’all, Mom and Dad, for the privilege to write books. I’m sure it’s been scary watching your oldest child pursue something as uncertain as this career. Y’all never let on though. That trust and belief has been an invaluable gift for me—one of too many to count.
Hugo for the unconditional love only a dog can give. Hugo, you deserve a cowriter credit for all those hours spent at my feet, and all those long walks you took me on that cleared my mind and renewed my spirit for the work ahead.
Irina Zhorov for believing me when I said I was going to publish a novel. More so, thank you for challenging me to try new things, to think differently about what I read and write and say and believe. For taking me places I never imagined setting foot. For never letting me off easy. For enduring love and unyielding support. Without you, Irina, this book could not have been written.
Last, I want to acknowledge the land I am sprung from, all the folks who inhabited it in the past, and those who will inherit it in the future. May this book amplify the voices of that place and its people for as long as stories are told.