The Pale King - Published Excerpts

Published Excerpts

Several excerpts from The Pale King appeared in magazines prior to the book's publication:

• "Peoria (4)", in the Fall 2002 issue of TriQuarterly
• "Good People", in the February 5, 2007, issue of The New Yorker.
• "The Compliance Branch", in the February 2008 issue of Harper's.
• "Wiggle Room", in the March 9, 2009, issue of The New Yorker.
• "A New Examiner", in the January 2010 issue of The Lifted Brow and the September 2010 issue of Harper's.
• "Backbone", in the March 7, 2011 issue of The New Yorker.
• "The Pale King," an extract from chapter 22, in the April 9, 2011 issue of the Sunday Review section of The Guardian'.

Before the novel's publication, there was some speculation that two of the short stories included in Oblivion — "Incarnations of Burned Children" and "The Soul is Not a Smithy" — might have been excerpts from the Pale King manuscript, but they did not appear in the final book. Also, the short story "All That" in the December 14, 2009, issue of The New Yorker was widely assumed to be an excerpt from The Pale King but does not appear in the book.