The Book of Leaving
notes, drafts & extracts
by
Book Cover & Preview Text
I write in the backs of books. Open any text I’ve read over fifty years and you will find columns of scrawl that hope to become something, a poem even. So when I began off-loading books from my damaged apartment, I stumbled upon John Berger’s The Shape of a Pocket, inside which is an essay on the sculptor Brancusi. While scanning its pages to assess water damage, I spotted a sentence I’d underlined years ago. “All his work was about leaving.” That’s it, I thought. The Book of Leaving.
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About the Book
The Book of Leaving feels that way. Like a bag is packed and the engine’s running. Only this time, the guy is old and he’s got to do it place. In situ, as it were. Call it a hard-nosed meditation with coffee and bathroom breaks. It’s good to rejoice at such tender small things as your own life.
About the Author
Poet, novelist, Peterson leaves a trail of thirty books and has recently come upon a clearing so vast it defines where words grow thin and must be gulped in short bursts.