Lucas Schaefer drafted and revised ‘a bunch’ of his near-500-page novel The Slip in Corsicana across two residencies since 2019.
This story is about shifting identities and unexpected connections centered on the fictional Terry Tucker’s Boxing Gym. The action kicks off in 1998, when a teenager from Massachusetts named Nathaniel Rothstein is sent to Austin for the summer to live with his Uncle Bob (“His one exotic trait was a small hoop earring, like Harrison Ford”). The main mystery of the book unfolds when Nathaniel goes missing one August night. Schaefer bobs and weaves through intersecting storylines, moving back and forth in time to follow a kaleidoscopic cast of characters, including Nathaniel and Bob, all connected by Terry Tucker’s gym. There’s rookie cop Miriam Lopez; young wannabe boxer Alexis Cepeda; X, a local teen grappling with their sexuality; David Dalice, a Haitian immigrant and mentor to Nathaniel; and Larry, a South Texas grifter also known as El Payaso who helps people cross the border into the U.S. by painting their faces white and dressing them like clowns. If this all sounds bonkers, it is. It’s also at turns hilarious, touching, and profound.’ - Dina Gachman, Texas Monthly.
Schaefer says, ‘I was a little stuck when I got to Corsicana the first time, ended up staying up late one night in my studio reading The Talented Mr. Ripley toward the beginning of my stay, and that combined with the magic of 100W propelled me almost all the way to the end of a draft. Certainly, there'd be no book (or no book in its current form, or no book now) without 100W.’
Corsicana welcomed Lucas Schaefer back for the fall 2025 Open Studios with a reading and book signing. The Slip is available at our Bookstore and online bookshop.
