Deborah Shapiro - The Sun in Your Eyes

Jesse Parrish is an imaginary, impossible combination of a number of much mythologized icons, but his background is particularly inspired by that of Gram Parsons and I drew on some details from the following biographies: Twenty Thousand Roads: The Ballad of Gram Parsons and His Cosmic American Music by David N. Meyer, Gram Parsons: A Music Biography by Sid Griffin, and Hickory Wind: The Life and Times of Gram Parsons by Ben Fong-Torres. I’m also indebted to the works of Eve Babitz, which, sadly, had been out of print until recently. A lot of what Andy knows about the Garden of Allah, and a good deal more about Los Angeles in the seventies, I learned from Babitz’s wonderful Slow Days, Fast Company; Eve’s Hollywood; and Sex and Rage. And I couldn’t have conjured Elise Robin without some help from Pamela Des Barres’s memoir I’m With the Band.

Huge thanks to Kate Garrick and Margaux Weisman. Kate, your vision and your unwavering belief mean the world to me. Margaux, you made this happen and your superb skills made it all the better. I’ve been so lucky to work with both of you. Thank you to everyone at William Morrow/HarperCollins who helped turn this into a reality, especially Ashley Marudas, Lauren Jackson, Mumtaz Mustafa, and Julia Meltzer. Thanks also to Colin Farstad and Cathy Jacque. I’m so grateful to Lauren Acampora, Carlene Bauer, Sarah Bowlin, Stephanie Feldman, and Caroline Kepnes for all of your insight and encouragement. This book took shape over a number of years and it wouldn’t really exist without the friendship of Alex Abramovich, Nida Alahmad, Kathleen Andersen, Jessica Berman Boatright, Coco Culhane, Jim Drain, Carrie Gabriel, Monica Khemsurov, Sam Lipsyte, Carole Obedin, Kelly Shimoda, Nicole Walker, and Rita Zilberman. Thank you to my friends and to my family, especially Renee Peppercorn, Phil Shapiro, Rebecca Shapiro, Reba and Hal McVey. And to the greatest of hearts, Lewis and Callum McVey.

DEBORAH SHAPIROhas published short stories in Open City, Bridge, and Washington Square Review. A graduate of Brown University, she has worked at New York, Elle, and Self magazines. She lives in Chicago, Illinois, with her husband and son.

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