Chris Drnaso

Managing Henry Chris Drnaso

What's the deal with Henry O'Doul? It's a question that is on a lot of people's minds. In the vernacular of the 1950's, where our story takes place, Henry is considered by many to be retarded. Others believe he may have been dropped on his head as a baby...either once from a great height or perhaps many times from a normal height. But Henry O'Doul manages to manage. He gets by. He keeps his ears open, and he hears things. Henry also keeps his eyes open, and he sees things. One afternoon, Henry O'Doul is once again in his third grade classroom long after the other children have been dismissed for the day. Henry is asked to stay after school often. He is cleaning erasers. Henry has honed his eraser cleaning skills to a level that few in the world could ever hope to match. Henry sees something on that fateful afternoon that is both odd and more than a little disturbing, but still somehow fascinating. Henry collects and stores that bit of information the way he gathers up and hides miscellaneous items from the world around him. The difference is this knowledge might prove to be dangerous.