In the Unlikely Event of A Water Landing.

Times Books, 1996. First Edition, Ex-Library. Hardcover. Very Good. NICE BOOK! VERY MILD SHELF WEAR ON DUSTJACKET, A FEW LIBRARY STAMPS, NO MARKING IN TEXT. From Publishers Weekly: In 1992, Noel's fiancee, Brigid, in her late 20s, was killed in an automobile accident in Vermont. In this memoir the author, who heads the writing program at the University of Vermont, describes the grief-stricken years he experienced after her death. This account includes diary excerpts written by Brigid as well as letters the author wrote to her after she died. Noel moved from Vermont to Massachusetts and pursued several relationships with other women in an unsuccessful attempt to lessen his pain. A trip to Belize in British Honduras, where he transcended his feelings by scuba diving, was more helpful. Although Noel's grief is deeply felt, his comments occasionally veer from reflection to self-absorption, and his description of the troubled sex life he shared with Brigid strikes a jarring note. Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc." "From Library Journal: ""You're writing about this, aren't you?"" people asked the author when his fiancee was killed in an automobile accident. And Noel, the head of the writing program at the University of Vermont and author of Hazard and the Five Delights (Knopf, 1988), did write, as an outlet for coping with his grief. ""It's through language that I can do my best for Brigid, to reach her, to let her reach me. Call it an elaborate cuddling method,"" he writes. By turns, and in no particular order, the author shares his pain, sense of loss, memories of hospital events, flashbacks, letters written to the other driver or received from a nurse, confession, and confusion. His fiancee was also an aspiring writer, and he quotes from her journals as he searches for healing. His work must be approached as a whole and as restorative medicine. It will touch anyone who has lost a loved one and struggled to put life back together again. The journey through this particular geography is an arduous one. Of interest especially to public and medical libraries. Nancy P. Shires, East Carolina Univ., Greenville, N.C. Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.