Good Citizens Need Not Fear: Stories

Now Zaya wanders the meadows, watching the bustling monks as they hike up their robes to pull weeds. They try to fill in all the pits, but the property is large, and it isn’t unusual to stumble upon yet another unfilled hole. They’ve torn down that old fence, and soon will build an even taller, sturdier one. For security. The forest is full of beasts, the monks say. We’ve got to keep them out.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

My deepest gratitude to those who helped bring this book into the world: Amelia (Molly) Atlas, agent extraordinaire and short-story advocate. Everyone at Doubleday, especially Lee Boudreaux for her unifying vision for this book, as well as Alessandro Gottardo (aka Shout) and Emily Mahon for the cover. At Knopf Canada, Lynn Henry for her wisdom and willingness to dive into the weeds of the sentences with me, and Rick Meier, who played a key role when the book was on submission. Heartfelt thanks to Sarah Savitt and Donna Coonan at Virago Books.

I owe a debt of gratitude to the Michener Center for Writers for giving me the time, resources, and mentorship to write this book. Special thanks to Elizabeth McCracken, Deb Olin Unferth, Jim Magnuson, Steven Dietz, Edward Carey, Bret Anthony Johnston, Michael Adams, Ben Fountain, Marla Akin, Debbie Dewees, Billy Fatzinger, and Holly Doyel. Thank you, Lara Prescott, Olga Vilkotskaya, Jessica Topacio Long, Nouri Zarrugh, Veronica Martin—invaluable classmates and friends. Thanks as well to Zoey Leigh Peterson and Julie Wernersbach, and to benefactors from the underworld: James A. Michener and E. L. Keene.

The writing community of Vancouver, especially Renée Sarojini Saklikar, whose mentorship came at a crucial time, and Isaac Yuen, for his friendship and exquisite prose. The Writers’ Trust of Canada and RBC Bank, for the generous support. Adam Day at the Baltic Writing Residency, where the “Lucky Toss” story unlocked itself at last.

The editors and journals who first published these stories: C. Michael Curtis at The Atlantic, Claire Boyle at McSweeney’s, Rosalind Porter at Granta.

Huge appreciation to my parents, Jane and Alex, for their unwavering support. This book began with a lunchtime conversation about our old building in Ukraine (also missing from municipal records). I’ve gone back to that building many times to make sure it still stands. But maybe it was never really there?

Much gratitude to my grandfather Georgiy Reva, a well of historical and literary knowledge.

To Little Jerry, for standing guard.

To Michael, for everything. To Michael’s parents, for their curiosity, openness, and kindness.

And thank you, forever, to my sister Anna Pidgorna, first reader and confidante, who gave me the courage to write. This book is for you.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Maria Reva was born in Ukraine and grew up in Canada. She holds an MFA from the Michener Center for Writers at the University of Texas. Her fiction has appeared in The Atlantic, McSweeney’s, The Best American Short Stories, and elsewhere, and has won a National Magazine Award. She also works as an opera librettist.

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Copyright

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2020 by Maria Reva

All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Doubleday, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York.

www.doubleday.com

DOUBLEDAY and the portrayal of an anchor with a dolphin are registered trademarks of Penguin Random House LLC.

Several stories originally appeared, some in slightly different form, in the following publications: “Novostroïka” in The Atlantic (December 2016); “Little Rabbit” as “Unsound” in McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern (August 2018); “Letter of Apology” in Granta (November 2018); and “The Ermine Coat” published by the Writers’ Trust of Canada and winner of the RBC Bronwen Wallace Award in 2018.

Cover illustration by Shout

Cover design by Emily Mahon

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Reva, Maria, author.

Title: Good citizens need not fear / by Maria Reva.

Description: First edition. | New York : Doubleday, [2020]

Identifiers: LCCN 2019018630 (print) | LCCN 2019019398 (ebook)

Classification: LCC PS3618.E876 (ebook) | LCC PS3618.E876 A6 2020 (print) |

DDC 813/.6—dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/​2019018630