“No, but I’m only eight.”
“Well I’m only twenty-eight.”
“Twenty-eight is old.”
“It’s not that old.”
“I don’t know,” Tess said, picking a nasturtium flower and inspecting it. “I hope I have things figured out by then.”
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I owe a huge debt of gratitude to Bob Darr, my friend and boatbuilding teacher, whose generous vision and exceptional artistry inspired this book. I am also deeply grateful to Dave Eggers, who understood what I was trying to do and showed me how to do it better. His support and guidance were crucial. Thanks also to my family: Jesse, David, Rich, and Ellen. To everyone at McSweeney’s: Sunra Thompson, Kristina Kearns, and Claire Boyle. To the Urmys, who gave me a place to begin writing. And to Mikayla, for reasons that are, of course, too numerous to list here.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Daniel Gumbiner was born and raised in Northern California. He graduated from UC Berkeley in 2011 and now lives in Southern Nevada. This is his first novel.
COPYRIGHT
Copyright © 2018 Daniel Gumbiner
Cover by Sunra Thompson
All rights reserved, including right of reproduction in whole or in part, in any form.
Grateful acknowledgment is made for permission to reprint lyrics from the song “The Wire (Reprise) / Kicked Down the Road” by James Wallace and the Naked Light. Copyright © James Wallace, 2013, all rights reserved.
McSweeney’s and colophon are registered trademarks of McSweeney’s, an independent publisher based in San Francisco. McSweeney’s exists to champion ambitious and inspired new writing, and to challenge conventional expectations about where it’s found, how it looks, and who participates. McSweeney’s is a fiscally sponsored project of SOMArts, a nonprofit arts incubator in San Francisco.
ISBN 978-1944211-54-7
10987654321