{"product_id":"the-presence-of-absence","title":"The Presence of Absence","description":"\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: bold;\"\u003eAs a writer lies dying, he has one last story to tell: a tale of faith and devotion, a meditation on what lies beyond this life, and a prayer of gratitude that may lead to rebirth. This is Simon Van Booy at his visionary best.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Language is a map leading to a place not on the map,” announces a young writer lying in a hospital bed at the beginning of \u003cspan style=\"font-style: italic;\"\u003eThe Presence of Absence\u003c\/span\u003e. As he contemplates his impending physical disappearance and the impact on his beloved wife, he realizes, “Life doesn’t start when you’re born . . . it begins when you commit yourself to the eventual devastating loss that results from connecting to another person.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eInfused with poetic clarity and graced with humor, Simon Van Booy’s innovative novella asks the reader to find beauty—even gratitude—in the cycle of birth and death. Stripped of artifice, \u003cspan style=\"font-style: italic;\"\u003eThe Presence of Absence\u003c\/span\u003e is a meditation between the writer and the reader, an imaginative work that challenges the deceit of written words and explores our strongest emotions.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSimon Van Booy is not only a master storyteller but a writer whose fiction is rich with philosophical insights into things both mapped and undiscovered. \u003cspan style=\"font-style: italic;\"\u003eThe Presence of Absence\u003c\/span\u003e parts the darkness to reveal what has been just out of sight all along.\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: bold;\"\u003e“Flows with depth and power....wide-open wonder.”—\u003cspan style=\"font-style: italic;\"\u003eWashington Post\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Simon Van Booy electrifyingly combines story with parable....wise, witty and always breathtakingly beautiful.”—\u003cspan style=\"font-style: italic;\"\u003eSan Francisco Chronicle\u003c\/span\u003e, Best Fiction of the Year\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Godine","offers":[{"title":"Bargain","offer_id":42982127272016,"sku":"9781567927443B","price":10.99,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":false}],"url":"https:\/\/bookoutlet.com\/en-ca\/products\/the-presence-of-absence","provider":"Book Outlet","version":"1.0","type":"link"}