Sublime

William Gass’s novel Omensetter’s Luck.

When my mother’s ashes came back from the crematorium, my family spent a couple of days staring at the plastic box that held them. Then we took the box to the old cast iron bridge across the Tamar River. Both bridge and river had been continual companions to her life. I undid a surprising number of layers and poured the ashes into the water below.

“Let’s go along with this, together. No matter where.” “What?” Was Sensei having a bit of fun? I stole a glance at his face but his expression was the same as always. Calm and reassured. He was sitting up straight, his briefcase lying next to him on the seat. While I puzzled over this, Satoru came down the hill with another person in tow.

haole

in my apartment? “Hi,” he said in his soft, effeminate voice. He was wearing a tweed sportcoat with large brown buttons, straight-legged polyester black slacks, and a black skullcap. I hadn’t talked to Dustin in more than a year, since before I had joined the community. Last I’d heard, he was managing a nightclub in Russia. He had sent me photos of

My First Summer in the Sierra

John Updike’s The Centaur,