But she only smiles. “You are fast enough for me,” she says.
We watch seals dive and swim and think of Keith. Cherry puts her hand in the water and we talk about him. And remember. Then she blows me a kiss and laughs. It is good to hear her laugh.
I turn
Diamond Girl
around and teach Cherry how to work the tiller.
“Push! The other way!” I say. “You can do it!”
She pushes.
“It’s the opposite of what you think,” Cherry says. “Not like a car. It’s the opposite.”
She tries again. “Like a lot of things,” she tells me. “Like money. Like love. The opposite of what you think.”
I still do my words every day. I am up to the U’s because sometimes I have time only for two words. I am very busy. I have lots to do, like work at Holsted and Crandall’s, play with Baby Keith, and walk Bounce every day. I buy blank books for Baby Keith, just like the ones Gram got for me. I am taping pictures on each page and writing things down just like Gram. I still get imitation crab sandwiches at Gilly’s and I buy Slurpees at Marina Handy Mart. My family has Saturday spaghetti nights with Gary’s family.
My family.
My name is Perry L. Crandall and I am not retarded.
I am a businessman. I have Bounce. I have Baby Keith. And I have Cherry.
Gram was right about my name. The L does stand for Lucky.
This is
echt.
This is true.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
It takes many people, places, and experiences to make any book possible. My thanks to the good people of Everett, Washington. Forgive me for taking liberties with the location of the waterfront commercial area and the anchorages off Whidbey Island. I was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest and it is very dear to me, but this is fiction after all.
My sincere appreciation to:
Orion,
who rocks and nurtures my soul as I write; my muses, Girl Kitty and Touloose; and Gordon, my husband. You all make it possible for me to pursue my dream. To my son, Andrew, for being so supportive and answering my computer questions, no matter how ridiculous. You are always good-natured about my constant demands. To my late mother, Bernice, who taught me a good book is a way to dream and instilled in me a lifelong love of reading. To my father, Ragnar—you were an enormous resource and gave me much insight into how it actually feels to win the lottery. Thank you for sending me all the junk mail that you still receive after this many years. You can stop now.
To Canadian author Holly Kennedy, who got me started on the path to publishing and has been there for me to lean on and to listen to my agony and diatribes. To Paul Theroux and his wife, Sheila Donnelly Theroux, who provided wise words while I tortured them both during their horseback-riding lessons. To my good friend No-die Namba-Hadar. She was the one who told me about the good fortune of dragonflies and allowed one to land on my manuscript. Thanks also to her husband, Lulik (Sam) Hadar, who was always so patient with me.
I could not have made my books better without my trusty beta readers. I thank them all from the bottom of my heart.
To Bob Miller of
Wandering Star
, my first beta reader, plot analyzer, and general all-around story adviser, and his wife, Renee. A heartfelt thanks to Pizza Bob’s in Haleiwa for all the pizza we consumed. To Pat Stuart—you had no doubt I would be published one day, and told me so continually. To Peggy Kaahanui, my full-service friend: sailor, canvas maker, horsewoman, and reader; and to her husband, Ken, who provided invaluable website assistance. To Rebecca Marks, my dear friend, who always comes back into my life at exactly the right time. To Kevin Keys, who read my book and offered advice, while I cut his hair. To Dee Vadnais, who first read my book while on a passage across the Pacific Ocean. To Mary Gullickson-Gray and Cheryl “Work It, Work It” Conway for amateur photo-shoot help, along with their beta-reader duties.
A big thanks to Dr. Steven Brown, who taught me the danger of the word “that” and who aggressively forced me to write with correct grammar. He is responsible for introducing me to the disability rights movement and disability culture, and my life is richer for it. Thanks also to the Center on Disability Studies at the University of Hawaii, Manoa. Your program serves such a vital need in our society.
Thank you to Brett Uprichard and Big Bamboo Stock, for professional photography. Thanks to my legal eagles, John Fetta of California and Ken Christianson of Washington. Thank you to everybody at New Tech Imaging, especially Cindy Joy Manago, most excellent copyreader. Thank you to all my friends and neighbors at Ko Olina Marina, who provided a cheery word and made me come out of my boat to eat at least one healthy meal a day. Thank you to my other full-service friend, Francie Boland, attorney, who not only believed in me but also has read every word I have written, and provided sound legal advice, which I have consistently ignored at my own peril. And much thanks to Miss Snark’s blog and for her sage advice.
Thanks to my Arizona beta reader, Steve Draper, my favorite cousin. Your ability to look at story structure and characterization was beyond helpful. Thank you to my aunt Myrtle Strom, who provided much encouragement throughout my writing journey. Thanks to my sisters, Kay Broten, Kris Francis, and Andrea Dahl, for saying, “I told you so.” Thank you to Shannon and John Tullius of the Maui Writers Retreat and Conference. They provide so many resources and have been instrumental in giving a jump start to the careers of many emerging authors. Thanks, also, to Renee in the office, whom I drove completely crazy!
Thank you to Jacquelyn Mitchard, my teacher and friend. You have always given selflessly of your knowledge and time. Your encouragement means so much. Thank you to all the writers I met and worked with in the Vanda Room at the Maui Writers Retreat (you know who you are). Your constructive criticism was instrumental in my development as a writer. Thank you to Lea, Russ, and Zachary Wells, who have shown me that Gram had it right all along, and there are many Perrys out there in the world.
A huge thank-you to my amazing editor at Putnam, Peternelle Van Arsdale. I knew right away that we shared the same vision for
Lottery,
and I adore working with her. I deeply appreciate all the other wonderful people at Putnam: Neil Nyren, who, when I met him at the Maui Writers Conference, talked about
when
my book would sell, not
if
, and Dan Conaway, who was so encouraging. To Peternelle’s assistant, Rachel Holtzman, who is so patient with my continuous convoluted e-mail messages, phone calls, and forgotten attachments. All of you deserve mass quantities of chocolate from Hawaii every single day.
A giant thank-you and virtual hug to my fabulous agent extraordinaire, Dorian Karchmar from the William Morris Agency. Thanks also to her assistant, Adam Schear, and to Georgia Jelatis-Hoke, and Mac Hawkins. You all now know exactly how many hours’ difference it is between New York and Hawaii.
I am so blessed to have obtained an agent such as Dorian. She loves
Lottery
as much as I do, and called at five-fifteen in the morning, July 20, 2006, to tell me so. (I was awake, honest.)
And finally.
To Jeri Kesling.
Your life has been an inspiration.
Readers Guide for Lottery
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
• Discuss the author’s use of language. What techniques does she employ to take the reader inside a mentally challenged mind?
• At several points in the novel, various characters use the word
retarded
. How do you feel about this word and other words that are used to describe the mentally and physically challenged?
• Gram tells Perry that his brother David is weak, and that “the weak are more dangerous in the end.” Discuss the character of David and his interactions with Perry. Is Gram’s warning justified?
• Perry calls Gram “a good teacher. She didn’t mind that I was slow, but lots of people do.” How do Gram’s lessons prepare him for the challenges he faces throughout the novel?
• Keith and Cherry, Perry’s closest friends, have both lived traumatic lives—Keith served in Vietnam, Cherry has been abused by her father. Why do these characters form such a close bond with Perry? In what ways do their life experiences inform their relationships with him?
• Which character are you most drawn to? Why?
• Perry views things in highly literal terms, as illustrated when he refuses to spread part of Gram’s ashes in Hawaii because “she needs to be kept together.” In what ways does this literalism prove to be an asset? In what ways is it a deficit?
• Perry says that Gary “was always nice to me before, but now he listens. . . . Money has made the slow part of me not so important.” Discuss the relationship between Gary and Perry. In what ways does it change after Perry wins the lottery?
• Perry’s vocabulary words are a motif throughout the novel. Discuss these words in terms of the chapters in which they appear and the story as a whole. What symbolic or metaphoric insights do they offer?
• What do you think of Perry’s decision at the end of the novel? What would you have advised him to do?
• Does money buy happiness? Does it buy love? What do you think Perry’s life would have been like without it?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Patricia Wood was born and raised in Seattle. She has served in the U.S. Army, worked as a medical technologist, been a horseback-riding instructor, and most recently taught marine science to high-risk students at a public high school in Honolulu. An avid scuba diver, she has assisted with shark research, won the Hawaii State Jumper Championship with her horse, Airborne, and crewed on a thirty-nine-foot boat sailing Honolulu to San Francisco. She is currently a Ph.D. student at the University of Hawaii. Her work has focused on education and the study of disability and diversity. Wood lives with her husband, Gordon, aboard
Orion,
a forty-eight -foot sailboat moored in Ko ’Olina, Hawaii. She has one son, Andrew, who lives in Everett, Washington, where
Lottery
is set.