Tamy’s father: Tamy! Tamy!

34

Edward: Why weep you? Did you think I should live forever?

33

Ali Bronski: Oh, oh.

32

Clara Redlake: Oh goodness!

31

And for me? As I fall . . .

30

. . .

29

. . . down . . .

28

. . .

27

. . . down . . .

26

. . .

25

. . . I need . . .

24

. . .

23

. . . a ripcord to pull . . .

22

. . .

21

. . . or a fast-rising current . . .

20

. . .

19

. . . to keep me afloat . . .

18

. . .

17

. . . but I’m not buoyant . . .

16

. . .

15

. . . so let me be found by a little explorer . . .

14

. . . who’ll arrange my arms and legs

13

. . . neatly . . .

12

. . . and tidy my

11

. . . hair . . .

10

. . . and pat my

9

. . . head . . .

8

. . . and sing me a

7

. . . song . . .

6

. . .

5

. . . and now . . .

4

. . . here it comes

3

. . .

2

. . .

1

. . . catch

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Jim North. Derek Nisbet. Talking Birds. Bill Massey. Sarah Keen. Simon Trewin. Sarah Ballard. Joelle Yudin. Dan Mandel. My family.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Photo by Clifford

NICK WALKER is a writer and performer with Talking Birds, a UK mixed-media production company. He lives under a flight path in Coventry, England.

PRAISE FOR NICK WALKER AND HIS DEBUT, BLACKBOX

“Genuinely original (and how often can you say that?), BLACKBOX is a masterpiece of loose-limbed, confident storytelling.”

—Patrick Neate, author of Twelve Bar Blues, winner of the 2001 Whitbread Novel Award

“[Walker] offers . . . an active imagination and wild morbidity, a sense of Ballardian mythology and wonder . . . and prose of pared distinction.”

—The Guardian (United Kingdom)

“[Walker] behaves as if he is enjoying himself enormously while writing this. The plot makes its revelations at such breakneck speed.”

—The Times (London)

“Invigorating. . . . Funny enough to let you almost forget the tragedy that lies at its heart.” —The Sunday Herald (United Kingdom)

“Brilliantly developed . . . darkly comic.”

—The Independent (London)

“Highly original. . . . Walker controls the loose, filmic structure beautifully, drawing us into what is a gripping and compelling novel.”

—The List (Glasgow)

“An intense conceptual cosmic thriller.”

—The Big Issue (London)

ABOUT THE PUBLISHER

Australia

HarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty. Ltd.

Level 13, 201 Elizabeth Street

Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia

Canada

HarperCollins Canada

2 Bloor Street East - 20th Floor

Toronto, ON, M4W, 1A8, Canada

New Zealand

HarperCollins Publishers (New Zealand) Limited

P.O. Box 1Auckland, New Zealand

United Kingdom

HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.

77-85 Fulham Palace Road

London, W6 8JB, UK

United States

HarperCollins Publishers Inc.

10 East 53rd Street

New York, NY 10022