I. - Hardcover

Stephen Dixon is the author of Frog and Interstate, among numerous novels and story collections, and has twice been a finalist for the National Book Award.

Reading this novel made up of interlinked stories can feel like being trapped in a small room with someone who insists on telling you every damn thing that crosses his mind. I., the hero, is an older writer stuck in a life that seems increasingly hard to endure: his wife is chronically ill, his two daughters find him difficult at best, and he is often gripped by an unfocussed and uncontrollable anger. But from this grim material emerges a moving and oddly funny book, as I. takes refuge in reveries of the past, recounting stories of Thanksgiving Day parades, meals in Paris, family quarrels, and the courtship of his wife. He also imagines myriad scenarios that might have happened but didn't; these unlived possibilities underscore the contingency of even our deepest relationships, and the ways in which we can be haunted by the alternatives.
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