I would like to thank the James Michener Foundation, whose generous financial support helped me to complete this book; Teresa Blair and David Beers; Cristiano Salgado and his family; Paulo Bailly; the students, staff, and faculty of the Creative Writing Program at the University of Houston; my brothers, Kent and Sean Shade. And a special thanks to Kathleen Cambor for her dedication and kindness.
“Eyesores” first appeared in the Greensboro Review 66 (Fall 1999); “White-tail Season” (here titled “Blood”) in Indiana Review 22, no. 1 (2000); and “The Heart Hankers” in River Styx 60 (2001).