Turning seventy, author Thomas Farber appraises the writing life, aging, love, his own fate, and ours.
Thomas Farber's writing has always been characterized by the tension between the concision of its execution and the immensity of its concerns. Here and Gone is brief, elegant and deeply moving. Intellectually omnivorous and agile, it is also as expansive, funny and full of life as only a book written in the full awareness of mortality can be.
James Bradley, author of Wrack and The Resurrectionist
In our youth-obsessed culture, writers willing to confront what lies ahead are surprisingly rare. In spare, heart-achingly beautiful prose, Farber moves between Berkeley, Boston and Honolulu, exploring the hard inevitable truth of mortality and reflecting on his life, loves, and work. It is difficult to convey how deeply the book touched me, and how it stays with me, without sounding hyperbolic or melodramatic. There are moments of levity, but ultimately Here and Gone is deeply serious, deeply human.
Shawna Yang Ryan, author of Water Ghosts and Green Island