Nine Inches

Copyright

Copyright © 2013 Tom Perrotta

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Distribution of this electronic edition via the Internet or any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal. Please do not participate in electronic piracy of copyrighted material; purchase only authorized electronic editions. We appreciate your support of the author’s rights.

First published in the United States of America by St. Martin’s Press.

This edition published in 2013 by House of Anansi Press Inc.

110 Spadina Avenue, Suite 801

Toronto, ON, M5V 2K4

Tel. 416-363-4343

Fax 416-363-1017

www.houseofanansi.com

These short stories are works of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in these stories are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

Some of the stories in this book appeared in the following publications:

“The Smile on Happy Chang’s Face” and “Nine Inches” in Post Road; “The Chosen Girl” in Gettysburg Review; “Kiddie Pool” in Best Life; “Grade My Teacher” in Five Points.

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Perrotta, Tom, 1961–, author

Nine inches / Tom Perrotta.

Short stories.

Issued in print and electronic formats.

ISBN 978-1-77089-427-3 (pbk.). — ISBN 978-1-77089-428-0 (html)

I. Title.

PS3566.E6956N55 2013 813’.54 C2013-903639-3

C2013-903640-7

Cover design: James Iacobelli

We acknowledge for their financial support of our publishing program the Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council, and the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund.