Done with the fruit, I noticed a barbershop at a street corner in the northwest, its signboard displaying a scissors, a hair clipper, and a pot of steaming water. With a black-headed match I burned my student ID, then rose to my feet and went to the shop to get a crew cut. Without my long hair my face would appear narrower, and from now on I would use a different name.
Acknowledgments
My heartfelt thanks to Judith Grossman, who read an initial draft of this book and convinced me that it would become a novel; to LuAnn Walther for her advice and suggestions; to Lane Zachary for her comments.
I am also grateful to Wallace — Reader’s Digest Funds for its generous support and to the Ucross Foundation for a residency.