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In the Misleading Absence of Light
"Winner, Jubilee Short Fiction Award, Canadian Author's Association
Winner, Fiction Award/First Book Award/City of Regina Award; Saskatchewan
Book Awards"
In this powerful, award-winning first collection of stories, Joanne Gerber uses intricate, visually-detailed images to examine the lives of people having to come to terms with difficult circumstances in their lives. Their spiritual considerations which challenge comfortable orthodoxy defy the reader to remain emotionally uninvolved. A young woman struggles to make sense of her terminal illness, in a brilliant examination of a person's crisis of faith, as well as the brilliant use of visual images, from both nature and famous paintings. Another story presents a man who is suicidal after the wedding of two very good friends, but not for the reason we'd expect. The entire second section of the book is autobiographical, and contains linked stories concerning a man with mental illness and the havoc that is wreaked in his family because of it, and because of the religious faith that keeps them bound together in a deadly situation.
""The collection is beautifully written and the images linger in the mind long after reading. Judging from her first effort here, Gerber has a promising career ahead of her.""-Globe and Mail
Winner, Fiction Award/First Book Award/City of Regina Award; Saskatchewan
Book Awards"
In this powerful, award-winning first collection of stories, Joanne Gerber uses intricate, visually-detailed images to examine the lives of people having to come to terms with difficult circumstances in their lives. Their spiritual considerations which challenge comfortable orthodoxy defy the reader to remain emotionally uninvolved. A young woman struggles to make sense of her terminal illness, in a brilliant examination of a person's crisis of faith, as well as the brilliant use of visual images, from both nature and famous paintings. Another story presents a man who is suicidal after the wedding of two very good friends, but not for the reason we'd expect. The entire second section of the book is autobiographical, and contains linked stories concerning a man with mental illness and the havoc that is wreaked in his family because of it, and because of the religious faith that keeps them bound together in a deadly situation.
""The collection is beautifully written and the images linger in the mind long after reading. Judging from her first effort here, Gerber has a promising career ahead of her.""-Globe and Mail
261 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1997
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
July 18, 2017
A wonderful little book that remains a favourite. Bravo!
April 2, 2018
This novel contained short stories of different people. These people were sad, felt heart wrenching solitude and were alone in their minds but surrounded by the world.
March 16, 2016
Stephen King said that a mediocre writer could learn to become a good writer but you can never learn what you need to be great. Great is something that you either have or you do not: and it is in the cultivation that the great shows. Joanne Gerber is a great writer. Her prose, poetic. Her vision exquisite. She invokes pictures and emotion. I loved this book.
"When he comes back at last--his body simply unstrung and shivering with weakness--his eyes are the clue. Oh, they've always been blue, against all odds and theories of heredity, bluer than Lake Huron on the kindest of days, and brighter, so it isn't the extraordinary colour or even the light in them that tells me. No. It's the misleading absence of light. Stephen's been listening to the angels."
"When he comes back at last--his body simply unstrung and shivering with weakness--his eyes are the clue. Oh, they've always been blue, against all odds and theories of heredity, bluer than Lake Huron on the kindest of days, and brighter, so it isn't the extraordinary colour or even the light in them that tells me. No. It's the misleading absence of light. Stephen's been listening to the angels."
September 5, 2015
So glad that I saved the five star rating so that I could give it to this book of short stories as it is so much better than the four star books I've read. Such difficult human circumstances handled with such honesty, compassion and delicacy. And in addition to the excellent read, one of the short stories will make a great comparison story to another story I am teaching in my 4C class this term. My only disappointment is that some pages were missing and I missed out on reading one of the stories. I think I will be mentioning this to the publisher. Oh wait, a second disappointment, I have not been able to find any other books by this author.
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September 1, 2013Mar 14, 2007
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May 10, 2015Beautifully written, outstanding imagery. Each story is a treat
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews