First published 2011
Billy Collins opens his newspaper each morning and turns to the horoscope section. He reads the predictions meant for someone who has disappeared forever, scanning the words alongside box scores and weather reports. The daily ritual becomes both comfort and torment as he encounters forecasts promising romance and adventure for a person beyond such earthly concerns. Collins moves through museums where dinosaur bones tower overhead, reminding him he floats through life like a soap bubble above a children's party. He confronts moon rocks behind glass and feels the weight of his own brief existence. The poet navigates the familiar territory of love that has ended and time that continues passing. His observations turn ordinary moments into meditations on what remains when someone vanishes. Collins finds himself caught between the urge to laugh and the need to mourn, discovering that grief arrives in the smallest details of daily life.
Genres: literary-fiction, contemporary, poetry, memoir
Vibes: intimate, lyrical, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family
103 pages · Hardcover · Random House