All That Is Left Is All That Matters: Stories
English
By (author): Mark Slouka
In fifteen beautifully wrought storiesranging from occupied Czechoslovakia to Californias Central Valley to the rainforests of the Pacific NorthwestMark Slouka explores moments in life when our back is to the wall. One of the most forceful American writers of his generation, Slouka captures the depth and emotional range of an array of charactersfrom a young boy attempting to shield his father from painful memories in The Hares Mask to a lonely man whose beloved dog inexplicably begins to sprout razor blades from her skin in Dog.
Whether battling the end of desire, the fact of injustice, or death itself, the men and women in these stories are doing everything possible to tighten their grip on life. In Crossing, a father hoping to compensate for his failures finds himself facing his past while fording a river with his young son on his back; in Conception, a young couple frozen by the possible end of their marriage is offered an unexpected way back; in Half-Life, a proud, aging shut-in finds her resolve tested by an extraordinary visitor determined to shatter her solitude.
Like its title, All That Is Left Is All That Matters consoles us with lifes tender humor and unexpected moments of redemption in the face of heartbreak, tragedy, and dislocation.
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