Life Like Smoke: Stories
Date
2013
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Producer
Director
Performer
Choreographer
Costume Designer
Music
Videographer
Lighting Designer
Set Designer
Crew Member
Funder
Rehearsal Director
Concert Coordinator
Advisor
Moderator
Panelist
Alternative Title
Department
Haverford College. Department of English
Type
Thesis
Original Format
Running Time
File Format
Place of Publication
Date Span
Copyright Date
Award
The Terry M. Krieger '69 Memorial Prize
Language
eng
Note
Table of Contents
Terms of Use
Rights Holder
Access Restrictions
Open Access
Terms of Use
Tripod URL
Identifier
Abstract
Our lives are like smoke. They weave and wend, blend and shred on the breeze, disperse; one moment vividly here, the next moment gone from sight. In a broad sense, the stories in Life Like Smoke explore the differentiations between self and other, the loneliness inherent to being a singular human subject, and the miraculous fact of connection and union that occur nonetheless. They are also stories that explore the nature of human narratives, first in the vast expanse of the Patagonian desert, where the overwhelming narrative of nature threatens to destroy the human narratives that arise within it, and then in the city of Buenos Aires, where the deluge of human narratives constantly compete, spitting sparks, coming together, breaking apart. And, of course, these stories are whatever you make of them, yours to map onto or make associations with, to analyze, to viscerally feel. Flannery O’Connor says it takes every word of a story to tell what that story is about. I would go further. Every word of a story comes together with you, the reader, to continually create itself. So if you want to know what the stories are about, you’re going to have to go ahead and read them.