These stories, sometimes in slightly different form, appeared in the following publications:
One Story and The Pushcart Prize XXXVI: Best of the Small Presses: “Nephilim”
Third Coast: “Galatea”
Beloit Fiction Journal: “Nod”
Bellingham Review: “Wrecking Ball”
Short Story: “Shelter”
Quarterly West: “Tremble”
The Southern Review: “Dead Languages”
Crab Orchard Review: “Rise”
Green Mountains Review: “Halo”
American Short Fiction: “Sea of Tranquility”
Avery Anthology: “Weights and Measures”
Carve: “Mourning the Departed”
Indiana Review: “Sidewinder”
Fairy Tale Review: “Lay My Head”
Thank you to everyone who read these stories and helped me improve them:
My teachers Ron Carlson, Andrew Sean Greer, Christine Schutt, Jayne Lewis, and especially Michelle Latiolais.
The editors who published and helped improve these stories, especially Jeanne Leiby, Pei-Ling Lue, and Hannah Tinti.
John Reed and his band of midnight pirates.
My writer and reader friends—Raisa Tolchinsky, Karen Bryan, and Cat Robson.
Laura Kasischke, who saw something in these stories.
A million thanks to Sarah Gorham, Kirby Gann, Caroline Casey, and all the folks at Sarabande Books for their support of this book and for all the great work they do.
My father, Gerd, who shared with me his love of books and history, and my mother, Helena, who has told me since I was seven that I have a very good vocabulary. I could wish for no more loving and supportive parents.
And David Kahn, my favorite blacksmith, and our daughter, Georgia Lee—my two greatest blessings.