PETER STRAUB
Mr X
This novel is entirely a work of fiction.
The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF www.harpercollins.co.uk
First published in Great Britain by
HarperCollinsPublishers 2000
First published in the USA by
Random House, Inc. 1999
Copyright © Peter Straub 1999
The Author asserts the moral right to
be identified as the author of this work
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Source ISBN: 9780002261425
Ebook Edition © OCTOBER 2002 ISBN: 9780007387977 Version: 2016-08-10
For my brothers, John and Gordon Straub
I could not weigh myself – Myself –
My size felt small – to me – I read your Chapter in the Atlantic – and experienced honor for you – I was sure you would not reject a confiding question –
Is this – Sir – what you asked me to tell you?
E—Dickinson
Emily Dickinson,
letter to Thomas Wentworth Higginson,
April 25, 1862
Contents
2 How I Learned About River-Bottom