Peter Canning

To be published by Diomedes Press in 2011.

“Let me tell you about Billy Johnson and me, about our lives and history -- how we ventured into the world waging our battles, and about our struggles to find our way back home.” So begins “The Ballad of Billy Johnson,” a story sweeping thirty years between two unlikely friends as they battle to leave their marks on the American landscape. Charlie King, whose ancestors stepped off the Mayflower, struggles with dreams of adventure and the traditional life of family and public service expected from him. Billy Johnson, an orphan from the prairie lands, takes Charlie’s wilder side and lives the life that Charlie cannot pursue. Set in Boston, Massachusetts, Washington D.C. and on the highways and backstreets of the land, it is a tale of friendship, regret and the soaring spirit of American dreams. A story from the forthcoming collection, Promised Land: Ten Stories (2011).