In this collection of essays Tim Bowling picks up the common questions, and beauties, of life and examines them closely. From questions of love and money to the search for solitude in a clamouring world, to poetry and the place of art today, Bowling writes thoughtfully on what it means to be alive. In the end, we come back to the moon, the trees, the salmon that swim to the sea and the call of the red-winged blackbird, which his mother imitated to call him inside at night, as a child.
"These essays are filled with quiet wisdom, hard-won insights about everyday life, a stirring love of the natural world, a poignant passion for life heightened by clear-sighted awareness of its brevity, and a rare intimacy and candour, as if Bowling is confiding these stories and thoughts to his closest loved one."
"Serious readers of personal essays know how hard it is to keep just a few matters in the air, let alone all this. I kept bracing for the break-up and crash, but to my astonishment the essay lands perfectly. I gasped audibly with surprise and delight for the first time in my reading life."
"His writing is beautiful and very poignant, so readers will no doubt take away their own impressions from these moving passages."