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Back Meet Me at the Crossroads Save as PDF
Chapters (40)
  1. Cover
  2. Part One
  3. 1
  4. 2
  5. 3
  6. 4
  7. 5
  8. 6
  9. 7
  10. 8
  11. 9
  12. Part Two
  13. Interstitial
  14. 10
  15. 11
  16. 12
  17. Interstitial
  18. 13
  19. 14
  20. 15
  21. 16
  22. 17
  23. 18
  24. 19
  25. Interstitial
  26. 20
  27. 21
  28. 22
  29. Interstitial
  30. Part Three
  31. 23
  32. 24
  33. 25
  34. 26
  35. 27
  36. 28
  37. Acknowledgments
  38. About the Author
  39. Also by Megan Giddings
  40. About the Publisher

Thank you to Sanjana Seelam and your staff at WME for your tireless work. And thanks, too, to Chaim Lipskar, Peggy Boulous Smith, and Sydnee Harlan of Writers House.

Thank you to every librarian and bookseller that has hand sold, written a recommendation, or suggested one of my books to a patron, but especially Kathleen Kondek, Daniel Goldin, Alyson and Janet Jones, Annie Metcalf, Sarah Hollenbeck, Oscar Gittemeier, and Miranda Sanchez. And thank you to every person who has invited me somewhere to talk about books and writing. It is always a pleasure.

Thank you, too, to the excellent students at the University of Minnesota whom I’ve been lucky enough to work with. One day, you’ll all get to read their books and then you’ll be lucky, too. And thank you also to the workshop attendees that I’ve had at Tin House; again, you will get to read their future books and be richer for it. Listening to all of the writers who are clearly still in love with fiction and put so much care and effort into reading and writing inspires me.

Thank you to Aaron and Hanna for feeding me goose blood soup; Scott, Paul, and Hilary Leichter for helping me to get to Germany and for every conversation I’ve had with you about writing; Claire Comstock-Gay for making Minneapolis feel like home; Jeff, Romayne, Ruth, N, H, C, K, U, A, P, and I, Alyssa, and Laura. And if I forgot anyone, I’m sorry! I will thank you again and buy you a coffee in person.

Some of this book snapped into a place after a long, strange encounter with an Uber driver in New Orleans in 2021. Yes, you were right about many things. Thank you for your kindness.

Finally: Jon, you encouraged me to dedicate this book “to the haters, thou shall inherit the Earth” or the 2024–2025 Liverpool Starting 11 because of how much happiness they’ve given me, but this book wouldn’t have been possible without you. You give me the time and space to write and the love and encouragement to make the writing better.

About the Author

MEGAN GIDDINGS is an assistant professor at the University of Minnesota. Her novel, Lakewood, was one of New York magazine’s ten best books of 2020, one of NPR’s best books of 2020, a Michigan Notable book for 2021, a nominee for two NAACP Image Awards, and a finalist for a 2020 Los Angeles Times Book Prize in the Ray Bradbury Prize for Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Speculative Fiction category. Her second novel, The Women Could Fly, was named one of The Washington Post’s best science fiction and fantasy novels of 2022, one of Vulture’s best fantasy books of 2022, and was a New York Times Editors’ Choice. Her work has received support from the Barbara Deming Foundation and Hedgebrook. She lives in Minneapolis.

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Also by Megan Giddings

  • Lakewood
  • The Women Could Fly
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