Thanks to everyone I’ve collaborated with at Chatto & Windus and FSG for their hard work, talent, and trust, and to my exceptional agent, Eve White.
Thanks to all the local historians who work tirelessly to record places like Springtown Camp and who help to rescue memories of the past from erosion and oblivion.
And, finally, my debt to the dead, may they rest easy, and to those who have survived, may each day be better than the last.
A Note About the Author
Darran Anderson is the author of Imaginary Cities, chosen as a best book of 2015 by the Financial Times, The Guardian, and The A.V. Club. His writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Times Literary Supplement, frieze, WIRED, and The Architectural Review. He was born in Derry, Northern Ireland, and lives in London. You can sign up for email updates here.
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Contents
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Epigraphs
Prologue
Part One. Derry, 1984
Longwave Radio
House Key
Map
Cardboard Box (Marked “This Way Up”)
Chalk
Floppy Disk
Periscope
Torch
Football
Aerial
Television
Totem
Bird’s Egg (Smashed)
Gargoyle
Shovel
LP
Clock
Fence
Salt
Sweets
Doll’s Eyes
Telephone
Newspaper
Blindfold
Belt
Cassette
Glass Eye
Toy Soldier
Skeleton Key
Gas Mask
Tattoo
Fool’s Gold
Mass Leaflet
Inventory
Part Two. Da’s Folks
Ink
Camera
Wedding Dress
Pen
Stamp
Sundial
Medal (Royal Army Medical Corps)
Pocket Mirror
Jukebox
Thimblerig
Coin
Roll of Microfilm
45 RPM, Single, Mono (Electrola, 1962)
Bottle Top
Handkerchief (Bloodstained)
Part Three. Ma’s Folks
Lighthouse Bulb
Pack of Lucky Strike Cigarettes
Storm Lantern
A Key That No Longer Fits Any Lock
Barometer (Cracked at “Stormy”)
Compass
Naval Insignia
Revolver
Part Four. The Liminal Place
Nail
Diary
Empty Bottle
Pills
Box of Fireworks
Effigy
Car Key
Videotape
Mix Tape
ID Card
Stereo
Skylight
Doorbell
Part Five. A Death in the Family
Bus Ticket
Wallet, Keys, Mobile Phone
Ballast
Twine
Recording Device
Bird Feed
Flotsam and Jetsam
Acknowledgments
A Note About the Author
Copyright
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
120 Broadway, New York 10271
Copyright © 2020 by Darran Anderson
All rights reserved
Originally published in 2020 by Chatto & Windus, Great Britain
Published in the United States by Farrar, Straus and Giroux
First American edition, 2020
E-book ISBN: 978-0-374-71659-2
Our e-books may be purchased in bulk for promotional, educational, or business use. Please contact the Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department at 1-800-221-7945, extension 5442, or by e-mail at [email protected].
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This is a memoir and a work of nonfiction. The names and identifying characteristics of some individuals have been changed or combined to protect their privacy.
Inventory Page 33
