It's 1984 and in the town of South Wakefield, 14-year-old Chris Lane is sure that he can see the future, or at least guess what's inside of Christie Brinkley's mind. Unfortunately, he can't foresee the closing of Joyland, the town's only video arcade. As the arcade fades from his life, Chris is forced to find a new source of entertainment, and ends up getting more than he bargained for--a summer of teenage lust and violence. "Joyland" is about the impossibility of knowing the future, bringing the Cold War home in a novel set to the digital pulse of video games and the echoes of hair metal. Illustrations by Eisner Award winner Nate Powell head up each chapter, and this new paperback edition includes an alternate ending and an author interview that provides new insights into this powerful piece of fiction.

Emily Schultz is a writer living in Toronto and New York. She is also the author of the novel Heaven Is Small, the short story collection Black Coffee Night, and the Trillium award–nominated collection of poems Songs for the Dancing Chicken (ECW Press, 2007). Nate Powell’s recent work includes Any Empire and Swallow Me Whole (Eisner Award winner for Best Graphic Novel, LA Times Book Prize Finalist, and Ignatz Award winner). He lives in Bloomington, IN.