A Home at the End of the World

Praise for A Home at the End of the World

“Once in a great while, there appears a novel so spellbinding in its beauty and sensitivity that the reader devours it nearly whole, in great greedy gulps, and feels stretched sore afterwards, having been expanded and filled. Such a book is Michael Cunningham’s A Home at the End of the World. ”

—Sherry Rosenthal, The San Diego Tribune

“Michael Cunningham has written a novel that all but reads itself.”

—Patrick Gale, The Washington Post Book World

“A touching contemporary story… This novel is full of precise treasures…. A Home at the End of the World is the issue of an original talent.”

—Herbert Gold, The Cleveland Plain Dealer

“Beautiful…This is a fine work, one of grace and great sympathy.”

—Linnea Lannon, Detroit Free Press

“Luminous with the wonders and anxieties that make childhood mysterious… A Home at the End of the World is a remarkable accomplishment.”

—Laura Frost, San Francisco Review

“Fragile and elegant… Cunningham employs all his talents, and they are considerable, to try to map out our contemporary emotional terrain.”

—Vince Passaro, Newsday

“Brilliant and satisfying… as good as anything I’ve read in years… Hope in the midst of tragedy is a fragile thing, and Cunningham carries it with masterful care.”

—Gayle Kidder, The San Diego Union

“Exquisitely written… lyrical… An important book.”

— The Charleston Sunday News and Courier

Also by Michael Cunningham

Flesh and Blood

The Hours

Land’s End: A Walk in Provincetown

Acknowledgments

A Home at the End of the World was started during hard times. By the date of its completion—nearly six years later—things had eased somewhat. For those more comfortable circumstances I thank the National Endowment for the Art and The New Yorker.

I must reserve the bulk of my gratitude, though, for several friends whose generosity literally rescued this book during its early phases, when encouragement, shelter, and even a working typewriter were sometimes hard to find. Thanks, with love, to Judith E. Turt, Donna Lee, Cristina Thorson, and Rob and Dale Cole.

Also of immeasurable help were Jonathan Galassi, Gail Hochman, Sarah Metcalf, Anne Rumesy, Avery Russell, Lore Segal, Roger Straus, the Yaddo Corporation, and, as always, my family.

Copyright

A HOME AT THE END OF THE WORLD. Copyright @ 1990 by Michael Cunningham. All rights reserved.

Printed in the United States of America.

No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. For information, address Picador, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.

www.picadorusa.com

Picador® is a U.S. registered trademark and is used by Farrar, Straus and Giroux under license from Pan Books Limited.

For information on Picador Reading Group Guides, as well as ordering, please contact the Trade Marketing department at St. Martin's Press.

Phone: 1-800-221-7945 extension 763

Fax: 212-677-7456

E-mail: trademarketing@stmartins.com

Two chapters of this book appeared in earlier form in The New Yorker.

Acknowledgments for permission to reprint previously published material appear on page 344

ISBN: 978-0-374-70759-0

Permissions

“The Poem That Took the Place of a Mountain,” by Wallace Stevens. Copyright 1952 by Wallace Stevens. Reprinted from The Collected Poems of Wallace Stevens, by permission of Alfred A. Knopf Inc.

“Madam George,” written by Van Morrison. Copyright © 1969 Songs of PolyGram International Inc. (3500 West Olive Avenue, Suite 200, Burbank, CA 91505). International copyright secured. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

“Aqualung” by Jennie Andersen and Ian Andersen. Copyright © 1971 Chrysalis Music (ASCAP). All rights in