Memory Embraced

by Jeremy Beck

This book is a story of sorts, told in fragments. We meet family and friends, as an unnamed traveler variously finds himself in New England, West Africa, Greece, New York City, Russia, and the American Midwest. During the course of his journey and in sharing his tale, he contemplates the nature of memory and how it may influence the self. He "Memory may be fragile, elusive, a wisp of a sense of … something familiar, not immediately known. Or, it may be resolute, concrete, a respite from or burden upon one’s present. It may live unfixed along a spectrum between such possibilities, at times pulsing with life and at others appearing as a fading shadow, only. And of course the natural tendency to conflate events, embellish details, and assemble camouflage is ever-present. We are not our own cameras; the best one can do is welcome what may be gleaned at any particular point in time, and even if not understood, share its interpretation." This is the impulse revealed here.

78 pages, Paperback

Published October 1, 2018