Chapter 2Parley Taylor had been twenty-five when he was heralded as the new, bright voice of American literature. The book the critics adored without reservation had been written when Taylor could remember he was trying to write a book. The voices had been so much a part of his life that sometimes he forgot they were fictional and not just people he knew. Sometimes, their words poured from him, and that always frightened him, and he drank until he forgot who they were, and they waited for him to come back to them.
Taylor had laughed as the critics, reviewers, readers, academics, and even late night talk show hosts fell over themselves to explain motivation, theme, metaphor, and meaning. It was all a big joke. It was such a big joke that Taylor felt like he should—in the words of his Engli
