A Longing for Impossible Things (Paperback)

David Borofka

ISBN 10: 1421442132 / ISBN 13: 9781421442136

Published by Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, MD, 2022

About this Item

Paperback. A powerful short story collection that charts the yearning inherent in imperfect lives.Winner of the American Fiction Award for Short Story Fiction by the American Book Fest"I'm a seeker," the narrator of "My Life as a Mystic" says. "A watcher of the skies. A pilgrim and a wanderer. I don't know, I couldn't stand law school." Such are the polar sentiments of the characters in the stories of David Borofka's A Longing for Impossible Things, which charts the yearning inherent in imperfect lives. Taking their cue from Fernando Pessoa's "painful landscape" of longing for the impossible, the ministers and missionaries of "Fire" and "Coincidence" look for more than what they find in their respective theologies; they reject what they've been told in favor of what they feel. Meanwhile, everyday believers fall back upon their own intuition and pray for revelation to be forthcoming. Lovers are forced to recognize the finite limitations of their grand infatuations even as they hope for some small measure of long-lasting tenderness, while teenagers resign themselves to the inevitable disappointments of adult life, recognizing the threats that exist in a future that is yet to unfold. And, as the narrator of "Attachments for the Platonically Inclined" says in the context of a 300 game in bowling, "I can't help but be reminded of perfection when perfection was difficult to find. And impossible to hold onto. Reminded that there are moments when everything works as it is supposed to, a harmony beyond applause or appreciation from others." Reminded that there are moments when everything works as it is supposed to, a harmony beyond applause or appreciation from others." Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.

Seller Inventory # 9781421442136

Bibliographic Details

• Title: A Longing for Impossible Things (Paperback)
• Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, MD
• Publication Date: 2022
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1421442132
• ISBN 13: 9781421442136
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: new

About this title

Synopsis

A powerful short story collection that charts the yearning inherent in imperfect lives.

Winner of the American Fiction Award for Short Story Fiction by the American Book Fest

"I'm a seeker," the narrator of "My Life as a Mystic" says. "A watcher of the skies. A pilgrim and a wanderer. I don't know, I couldn't stand law school." Such are the polar sentiments of the characters in the stories of David Borofka's A Longing for Impossible Things, which charts the yearning inherent in imperfect lives.

Taking their cue from Fernando Pessoa's "painful landscape" of longing for the impossible, the ministers and missionaries of "Fire" and "Coincidence" look for more than what they find in their respective theologies; they reject what they've been told in favor of what they feel. Meanwhile, everyday believers fall back upon their own intuition and pray for revelation to be forthcoming. Lovers are forced to recognize the finite limitations of their grand infatuations even as they hope for some small measure of long-lasting tenderness, while teenagers resign themselves to the inevitable disappointments of adult life, recognizing the threats that exist in a future that is yet to unfold. And, as the narrator of "Attachments for the Platonically Inclined" says in the context of a 300 game in bowling, "I can't help but be reminded of perfection when perfection was difficult to find. And impossible to hold onto. Reminded that there are moments when everything works as it is supposed to, a harmony beyond applause or appreciation from others."

About the Author

David Borofka taught at Reedley College for more than thirty-five years before retiring in 2019. He now teaches in the Writers' Program at UCLA Extension. The author of Hints of His Mortality, A Longing for Impossible Things, and The Island, his work has appeared in Southern Review, Massachusetts Review, Shenandoah, Image, Glimmer Train, and elsewhere.