"I wake up in the dark. Au bout de la nuit. 4:06 on the LED. Take a leak. Cigarette. I know I shouldn't; I mean, in general, generally speaking, nobody should, not after everything we know, not after we've watched loved ones die, not to mention movie stars, but I do. I'm an addict. But I especially shouldn't smoke at 4:06 when I have hope of getting back to sleep. It makes my heart race."

"The Place I Really Live"

Robert Goolrick is the author of the critically acclaimed memoir, The End of the World As We Know It. His first novel, A Reliable Wife, was a #! New York Times bestseller, and winner of both the NAIBA and Book of the Month Club First Fiction Award. He lives in White Stone, Virginia.

Join us at Books & Books in Coral Gables for a Blue Christmas Party this Saturday. December 10 at 7 p.m.

If you can't make the event, you can still buy the book here.

John Dufresne