Gardener’s Return from the Brink

The Tommyknockers

This thread follows James Eric Gardener from alcoholism, despair, and a suicide attempt toward a dangerous return to friendship, responsibility, and resistance.

increasing

Bearing strength in each event

decreasing

The Urge to Drink The Urge to Drink from "The Tommyknockers". The Urge to Drink A familiar danger On a poetry tour, Gardener wakes wanting to drink.

The Urge to Drink A familiar danger On a poetry tour, Gardener wakes wanting to drink. He knows his alcoholism can turn an ordinary evening into a blackout and a destructive binge. The decision deferred He initially plans to stay in his room, but his fellow poet Ron Cummings draws him into drinking. The relapse begins with a choice he tells himself he can control.

The Blackout and the Breakwater

The Blackout and the Breakwater A lost week After a drunken rampage, Gardener wakes on a breakwater with most of the previous days missing. He remembers the harm of earlier blackouts and believes he may have hurt someone again. A reason to wait He plans to call Bobbi before ending his life. A strong conviction that she is in trouble interrupts his plan and sends him back toward Maine.

A Friend’s Emergency A Friend’s Emergency from "The Tommyknockers". A Friend’s Emergency The journey north Barefoot and sick, Gardener hitchhikes through New Hampshire and Maine.

A Friend’s Emergency from "The Tommyknockers". A Friend’s Emergency The journey north Barefoot and sick, Gardener hitchhikes through New Hampshire and Maine.

A Friend’s Emergency The journey north Barefoot and sick, Gardener hitchhikes through New Hampshire and Maine. Kindness from strangers gives him food, transport, and a reason to keep going. The fear proves real He reaches Bobbi’s farm and finds her wasted from exhaustion. He postpones his own crisis to stay beside her, accepting her demand that he not call for outside help.

The Work and the Doubt The Work and the Doubt from "The Tommyknockers". The Work and the Doubt Cooperation under pressure Gardener helps excavate the ship and witnesses its powers firsthand.

The Work and the Doubt from "The Tommyknockers". The Work and the Doubt Cooperation under pressure Gardener helps excavate the ship and witnesses its powers firsthand.

The Work and the Doubt Cooperation under pressure Gardener helps excavate the ship and witnesses its powers firsthand. He also notices Bobbi’s omissions and recognizes that the residents’ inventions are not matched by sound judgment. Relapse as escape He drinks to blunt fear and exhaustion, even while trying to keep watch. His affection for Bobbi and his unease about the town pull him in opposite directions.

A Final Resistance A Final Resistance from "The Tommyknockers". A Final Resistance The concealed truth Gardener discovers that Bobbi has used Peter, Ev Hillman, and Anne as living power sources.

A Final Resistance from "The Tommyknockers". A Final Resistance The concealed truth Gardener discovers that Bobbi has used Peter, Ev Hillman, and Anne as living power sources.

A Final Resistance The concealed truth Gardener discovers that Bobbi has used Peter, Ev Hillman, and Anne as living power sources. The sight finally breaks his remaining trust in the project. Action at a cost He attempts to rescue David Brown, destroys the shed’s power system, and pursues the ship’s controls. He acts while injured, drugged, and unable to know whether the child can be saved.

June 26, 1988

July 4, 1988

July–August 1988

August 19, 1988