David Means: Hystopia

PRAYER FOR POP

Twisted on the gist of Christ

against the beat of Raw Power

twisted on the twist of nice

you tore another (a)hole

in the beat blood senseless

Ann Arbor night, right

before “Search and Destroy.”

“Somebody’s got to save

my soul, somebody’s got

to save my soul…”

[Eugene Allen, August 20, 1973]

I would like to thank those veterans who, one way or another, shared their stories as I was writing this book — in particular Chet Lubeck and Gerald McCarthy.

And thanks to those who gave me support along the way: The Guggenheim Foundation, Jonathan Franzen, Jamie Quatro, Rebecca Nagel, Andrew Wylie, Mitzi Angel, Will Wolfslau, Donald Antrim, Rodger Stevens, Joanna Goodman, David Patterson, Frank and Holly Bergon, Eric Chinski, and Laird Gallagher.

Finally, I’d like to thank my father, who died before I finished but who — I hope and pray — would’ve seen that this was written in the spirit of via negativa . His belief in the wider cosmology, in the before and the after, in the permanence of grace as the fundamental light in the darkness of existence, is the gift that keeps him alive in me.

David Means was born and raised in Michigan. He is the author of four story collections, including The Spot; Assorted Fire Events , which was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and the winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for fiction; and The Secret Goldfish , which was short-listed for the Frank O’Connor International Short Story Prize. His stories, which have recieved numerous honors, including two O. Henry Prizes and two Pushcart Prizes, have been translated into ten languages. He was a recipient of a Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship in 2013. You can sign up for email updates here.