Shriek -An Afterword

335 Pages·2007·1.53 MB·English

by  VanderMeer Jeff

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for Ann
&
for
Howard Morhaim
who sold it
Jim Minz
who bought it
Liz Gorinsky
who edited it
No one makes it out.
—S : O
ONGS HIA
If you live a life of desperation, at least lead a life of loud desperation.
—D P
OROTHY ARKER
We dwell in fragile, temporary shelters.
—J P B
EWISH RAYER OOK
The dead have pictures of you.
—R H
OBYN ITCHCOCK

A Note from the Author
The following is my account of the life of noted historian Duncan Shriek. This
text was originally begun as a belated afterword to Duncan Shriek’s The
Hoegbotton Guide to the Early History of Ambergris, but circumstances have
changed since I began the book.
Having begun this account as an afterword, ended it as a dirge, and made of
it a fevered family chronicle in the middle, all I can say now, as the time to write
comes to an end, is that I did the best I could, and am gone. Nothing in this city
we call Ambergris lasts for long.
As for Mary Sabon, I leave this account for her as much as for anyone.
Perhaps even now, as late as it has become, reading my words will change you.
Goodbye.
—J S
ANICE HRIEK
{When I found this manuscript, I contemplated destroying the entire thing, but,
in the end, I didn’t have the will or the heart to do so. And I found I really didn’t
want to. It is flawed and partisan and often crude, but it is, ultimately, honest. I
hope Janice will forgive or forget my own efforts to correct the record.—
D }
UNCAN
Contents
Part 1
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Part 2
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
A (Brief) Afterword
Acknowledgments
Music Acknowledgments