Extracts

Malcolm let the canoe drift to a halt and then silently slipped in among the stiff stems

Anna said there was only one place to find a meaningful gift for MDash

Necker Island, New Year’s Eve, 1998.

At the time I first realized I might be fictional, my weekdays were spent at a publicly funded institution on the north side of Indianapolis.

My house burned down on an autumn night almost a year ago.

I LOOKED DOWN the barrel of my Glock 19 service weapon.

Daisy wore a clingy black dress with a neckline so deep it could tutor philosophy.

Who was this man who created the soundtrack to my life?

Our first battle was birth.

The last triplet was always tricky.

What follows is a truthful account...

“To the left!” “Copy that. Moving to the left. Five . . . four . . .”

Just after eleven o’clock on a bright spring morning...

As the ancient cogwheel train clawed its way up the dizzying incline...

Here’s the thing: the rest of it wouldn’t have happened if the train to Amsterdam hadn’t been crowded.

I had wanted to be a writer.

From below, the entire structure appears to be made of glass.

It’s like a drug. One hit of it and you’re under its spell, and then all you can think about is more.

On the day of the new president’s inauguration...

One of the reasons I chose to write about rural and remote doctors...

On 16 March 2017 I played my two hundred and seventy-ninth game for the Melbourne Storm.

Maybe it won’t happen.

I didn’t dare look at the palm of my hand for fear of seeing the bruising arc pattern of fingernails from the clenching of my fist moments earlier.

It was the first day of my humiliation.