{"product_id":"the-presence-of-absence-9781567927443","title":"The Presence of Absence","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"Flows with depth and power....wide-open wonder.\"-\u003ci\u003eWashington Post\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"Simon Van Booy electrifyingly combines story with parable....wise, witty and always breathtakingly beautiful.\"--\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eSan Francisco Chronicle, Best Fiction of the Year\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAs a writer lies dying, he has one last story to tell: a tale of faith and devotion, a meditation on what lies beyond this life, and a prayer of gratitude that may lead to rebirth. This is Simon Van Booy at his visionary best. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Language is a map leading to a place not on the map,\" announces a young writer lying in a hospital bed at the beginning of \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Presence of Absence\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e. As he contemplates his impending physical disappearance and the impact on his beloved wife, he realizes, \"Life doesn't start when you're born . . . it begins when you commit yourself to the eventual devastating loss that results from connecting to another person.\" \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eInfused with poetic clarity and graced with humor, Simon Van Booy's innovative novella asks the reader to find beauty--even gratitude--in the cycle of birth and death. Stripped of artifice, \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Presence of Absence\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e is a meditation between the writer and the reader, an imaginative work that challenges the deceit of written words and explores our strongest emotions. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eSimon Van Booy is not only a master storyteller but a writer whose fiction is rich with philosophical insights into things both mapped and undiscovered. \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Presence of Absence\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e parts the darkness to reveal what has been just out of sight all along. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"David R. Godine Publisher","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50645174026514,"sku":"9781567927443","price":17.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_29442915-b6e6-4def-a1d6-b84158ee16f5.jpg?v=1733141852","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/the-presence-of-absence-9781567927443","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}