{"id":15445,"date":"2011-05-06T12:04:25","date_gmt":"2011-05-06T16:04:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?p=15445"},"modified":"2014-01-05T23:39:30","modified_gmt":"2014-01-06T04:39:30","slug":"contact","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2011\/05\/06\/contact\/","title":{"rendered":"Contact"},"content":{"rendered":"

I remember thinking, after the second or third unreturned phone call, maybe this is how it begins with stalkers. A few unreturned phone calls, three or four, but it\u2019s the absence of a good reason that really sets you off. I mean, why isn\u2019t he returning those calls? There\u2019s no good reason. You want to address the problem, to set things straight. So there\u2019s a few more calls, like, why aren\u2019t you answering my calls? It\u2019s not that it\u2019s a big deal to me, it\u2019s not that I don\u2019t have anything else to do, or that my life lacks meaning, but there\u2019s no good reason to be avoiding me. We used to be pretty good friends, and it\u2019s not like we had a big falling out. I mean, it just came into my mind to give you a call, since we hadn\u2019t been in touch for a few years, and I thought maybe you\u2019d want to know that things hadn\u2019t worked out with my marriage.<\/p>\n

The point is, I suddenly had an insight about how stalkers are born: mounting frustration, burning resolution, determination to make contact. So you\u2019re thinking the stalker gives birth to himself, but the stalker, and I use the word loosely, very loosely, isn\u2019t necessarily responsible for the birth; there\u2019s at least two parents, I mean.<\/p>\n

There was never any threat to your person. With the restraining order you reported that you had reason to believe that you were in danger. The only one who was in danger: me. I\u2019m the first to admit that I went too far with some of my … When I cut off the tip of my finger and sent it in a package. Sent the tip of my thumb, with the note: What would it take Dale? (What does it?) How did that add up to a threat to you Dale? It added up to a lot of pain for me, but not a threat. If he stopped thinking about himself for five minutes and thought about … Sent him my finger. Do you know what that\u2019s like, in terms of pain?<\/p>\n

Friend is: Dale<\/p>\n

This story first appeared in <\/em> Another Ventriloquist<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

See also: \u201cAdam Gilders and<\/em> Another Ventriloquist<\/a>.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I remember thinking, after the second or third unreturned phone call, maybe this is how it begins with stalkers. A few unreturned phone calls, three or four, but it\u2019s the absence of a good reason that really sets you off. I mean, why isn\u2019t he returning those calls? There\u2019s no good reason. You want to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":171,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2258],"tags":[2255,71,2241,2260],"class_list":["post-15445","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fiction-2","tag-adam-gilders","tag-fiction","tag-jl-books","tag-stalkers-2"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nContact by Adam Gilders<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"May 6, 2011 \u2013 I remember thinking, after the second or third unreturned phone call, maybe this is how it begins with stalkers. 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