Would you listen to me tell it in the present, like it is happening now? It seems I’ve been telling my story and living my story for so long, the two have mixed, and I’m no longer sure which is accurate, which informs the other: the story or the life. I try to tell it the way it happened, as it is happening, but how close am I to the truth?I’ll do my best to finish, to give you closure. You’ve been with me this long; I owe you that. But at some point, forgive me if my story suddenly ends.In Fresno, California, in 2007, a tiger mauled a woman. The tiger was six years old and had arrived in the United States as a pet purchased by Lori Nagel through dubious channels in the Far East. Her friends told investigators the tiger was quite docile toward Lori, even affectionate, right up to the moment its five-inch dew claw severed an artery in Lori’s left leg. She survived, but her leg didn’t. She insisted the unfortunate incident was her fault; it was her carelessness, her inattentiveness that was the cause.
