Delivery

by Christopher Hebert

July 30th, 1993. Gabe' s life has blown off course. A high school baseball star on the verge of greatness, he finds his confidence shaken by a lingering minor injury. Instead of spending his summer training and waiting for legions of scouts to usher him to the major leagues, he retreats— baffling his coach, his teammates, and his long-suffering girlfriend by taking an unlikely job as a pizza delivery boy. He spends the sweltering summer days navigating the labyrinth of streets that make up his hometown, surrounded by quirky customers and the cryptic wisdom of Lena, a seasoned delivery driver who communicates through a custom CB radio. But with every pizza Gabe delivers, he feels the weight of the world' s expectations loom ever larger. On the eve of an important tournament, with summer coming to an end and his future bearing down, Gabe finds himself drawn into a frantic and decisive night— one that will force him to finally answer the what will he do with his life?

216 pages, Paperback

Expected publication May 5, 2026

About the author

CHRISTOPHER HEBERT is the author of the novels Angels of Detroit (Bloomsbury 2016) and The Boiling Season (HarperCollins, 2012), winner of the 2013 Friends of American Writers award. He is also co-editor of Stories of Nation: Fictions, Politics, and the American Experience (forthcoming UT Press). His short fiction and nonfiction have appeared in such publications as FiveChapters, Cimarron Review, Narrative, Interview, and the Millions. He is a graduate of the University of Michigan and is editor-at-large for the University of Michigan Press. Currently he lives in Knoxville, TN, where he is Assistant Professor of English at the University of Tennessee.