Читать книгу Earning Innocence - Andrew Taylor-Troutman - Страница 6

All of the characters, scenes, vignettes, and experiences of Earning Innocence are products of the play of my imagination. And I have had a lot of fun!

Sometimes these fictional people flirt, sing, laugh, and pray in “real” places, i.e., somewhere a reader might have the opportunity to go and do likewise. In the novel, however, those experiences are not meant to be representational of actual locations or institutions—except in the way, of course, that fiction mirrors life. Specifically, there is a town of Talmage outside Philadelphia—no part of this manuscript was meant to depict this fine locale or its magnanimous people, either in August of the year of Our Lord 2000 or at any other time in history. One final caveat: the opinions expressed here are not intended to represent those of any baseball player, funeral home director, retired military officer, folk singer, Floridian, librarian, Border collie, or pastor of any denomination—except in the way, of course, that fiction speaks our truth for us.

The novel, however, does intentionally and unabashedly echo my deep, deep abiding and loving appreciation for Marilynne Robinson’s Gilead. In addition, certain characters occasionally make remarks quite similar to something I have heard or read elsewhere. So I wish to acknowledge my debt to Nadia Bolz-Weber for the idea of scars and wounds and to Ann Lamott’s mother’s big black pocketbook. The late David Foster Wallace once uttered a memorable riff on Jesus and the truth setting you free. Richard Lischer played Burnout with his son, Adam. The image of a husband and wife racing from bed to the kitchen each morning is from Elizabeth Dark Wiley’s award-winning essay, “If You Want It To Last” (Ruminate, Issue 35: summer, 2015). I acknowledge and thank Brian Doyle for the hint of a hint of a smile and many other melodious phrases I unconsciously borrowed from drinking great gulps of his writing—see what I did there? And there are images in Earning Innocence that are borrowed from enlightened sources. The story of Jacob and the blessing limping forward is found in the Book of Genesis. The ancient rabbis, who knew the power of this and other stories, compared a parable to a candlewick. The image of a teenage son giving his father a halfway hug is from Brock Clarke’s “Good Night” (The Sun: May, 2015). His short story, not more than a single paragraph, has haunted me in the very best of ways.

Like Bonnie Wheeler, I am indebted to a group of intelligent truth-telling women who gave of their talent and time in support of my goal: Marjorie Stelmach was my first reader, a mentor who coached, challenged, and cheered; Heather Vacek offered a historian’s perspective as well as deft plot analysis; Claire Asbury Lennox thoroughly and astutely marked up a first draft—I owe you some more red pens; Katherine Bowers, Angela Alaimo O’Donnell, and Mary Howard Shaw each gave sharp insights and welcomed affirmations; Jane Willan breathtakingly cut the entire original opening and helped me to breathe deeply while making down-to-the-wire tweaks, which may well make all the difference. Rocky Supinger is a dude, of course, but was helpful in his delightful Yo-Rocko way. And my beloved, Ginny, is steadfast loving kindness—chesed in the original biblical language. I give thanks for this communion of the mind. My gratitude to each one of you is indescribable.

This book is dedicated to my mom, Anna Troutman, who once wrote on the inside cover of Paul Harding’s Tinkers: “A book about relationships & redemption for those who seek to build relationships & who have been redeemed.”

Mom gave me that book with inscription as a birthday present in January, 2011. I have wanted to write a story worthy of that blessing ever since.

And Sam, Daddy is finished working now. Yes, Daddy is all done. Do you want to read a book?