The Lost Chapters by Lindsay Allison Ruoff
The Lost Chapters
A man rewrites two of the lost chapters of his novel (originally published in 1961) on December 4, 1969 near Los Angeles. He apologizes that the style and form of his rewritten chapters might be a little different, as ten years has passed and the two lost chapters, written for the second time each on December 4, 1969 are included in an entirely different body of work. This new body is warmer, closer to the equator, smells of grass, intuits race riots. It wants to be held if only because of the ever approaching holiday season; the other body, the older, wanted to swim.
You hadn't read the initial novel of 1961, written in San Francisco, and were not reading the remembered chapters in 1969, an 18 year old dodging traffic, grinding meat, failing drafts, stealing mercury, and finding love in the grocery store. Having read the two rewritten pieces of writing probably wouldn't have saved you the black eye from Carlos or the friends who wouldn't come back or the unforgivable mixing of patterns and drugs and patterns, 1969. That would have been too easy.
There was a moment, after you sold every last thing in the yard, when you said, "If I go crazy, they can't touch me." And your sister, who will move to Germany, put her hand on your shoulder and touched you.
All that writing from then, and then later, might have done something for you, but what who can guess.
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LINDSAY ALLISON RUOFF is a person living in Portland, Oregon. She is listening to "Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy)" by Brian Eno and recommends it. She thinks Brian's pronunciation of "Regina" is funny. She's very mature.
She is an editor and book designer for Housefire Publishing.
Lindsay Allison Ruoff was a featured writer for Smalldoggies Reading Series PDX013 Anniversary Show at the Blue Monk.