The Pale Light of Sunset
Scattershots and Hallucinations in an Imagined Life
Real people don’t run away from. . .But real people can run away to. . . In 1936, a child is born in the mountains of West Virginia. In 2005, he scatters his past into a deep canyon of rock. The Pale Light of Sunset: Scattershots and Hallucinations in an Imagined Life illuminates the journey of this boy, a constant tourist and visitor, who travels everywhere, yet belongs nowhere. Through tales of swarming hornets and swinging bullies, love affairs with the land and its people, and near death by frostbite and heat stroke, the absurd hilarity and clear, tender voice found within this story navigates a surreal road paved by the experiences of one man. Author of nationally acclaimed and locally banned novels Crum and Screaming with the Cannibals, Lee Maynard details an imaginative account of his journey through seventy years of hard living—from West Virginia, to Mexico, the Arctic Circle, and beyond. Scattered and hallucinated, The Pale Light of Sunset grants a long-awaited glimpse into the bent condition of the Maynard brain.
•1936 The Parlor
•1941 The Shotgun
•1942 Hornets 1
•1943 Thanksgiving
•1944 Delivery Boy 1
•1945 Delivery Boy 2
•1946 Sometimes It Will Be Harder
•1947 Hornets 2
•1948 My Mother’s Coat
•1949 Mean Rafe
•1950 The Constable
•1951 Tommy Hatfield 1
•1952 Tiny Rooms
•1953 The Train
•1954 Saying Goodbye
•1955 Booze Runner
•1956 Dark Swimmer
•1957 What Am I Doing Here? 1
•1958 Accounting Class
•1959 Final Exam
•1960 Midnight Pub
•1961 The Dude
•1962 Whorehouse
•1963 The Journal
•1964 Portland in the Night
•1965 Faggot
•1966 Dying in San Francisco
•1967 Helen 1
•1968 Ruker and the Bikers
•1969 Toy Beggar
•1970 Reunion
•1971 Horizon
•1972 The Patience of Dead Men
•1973 Low Rider
•1974 The Buick
•1975 The Typewriter
•1976 Tommy Hatfield 2
•1977 The Funeral of Cousin Elijah
•1978 Ice
•1979 When Will They Find Me Out?
•1980 Hornets 3
•1981 The Prayer Horse
•1982 The Gift
•1983 Lowenstein 1
•1984 What Am I Doing Here? 2
•1985 Scorpion
•1986 Dream World
•1987 Helen 2
•1988 Morning Prayer
•1989 A Mark on the Wind
•1990 The Button
•1991 Boy on a River
•1992 Arrow in the Light
•1993 Lowenstein 2
•1994 Peyote
•1995 Belonging
•1996 Lujan’s Place
•1997 Dinner with Carmen
•1998 A Finding in the Sky
•1999 Arctic Circle
•2000 Fantasy World
•2001 Friendship
•2002 A Death in the Mountains
•2003 Where I’m From
•2004 The Mountain
•2005 Journal’s End
