Cream of Kohlrabi: Stories

In this breathtaking collection of sixteen intimate stories by award-winning poet, novelist, and memoirist Skloot (The Wink of Zenith), characters struggle with their failing bodies and minds%E2%80%94and the ensuing loss of dignity%E2%80%94while demonstrating their will to live. Skloot's humane approach reveals the truth of each character's condition as well as the challenges of everyday life for the sick and aging%E2%80%94all to haunting and powerful effect. In "Plans," a dying man tries to make future plans with his family, especially attending an opening night Mariners vs. Red Sox game in Seattle. In "The Tour", a mother in a nursing home looks forward to a trip to Fire Island with her daughter and leaves herself small notes in order to jog her memory: "Had she greeted him? It was too awful, this failure to know what was happening in her life. If you can't remember, Esther thought, you can't think. And if you can't think, you aren't living." Skloot's subtle, vividly descriptive stories allow his characters glimmers of hope and strength amidst the pain. Readers can't help but be moved. (Sept.)