The interrelated short prose pieces in Ben Berman’s 'Then Again' explore a life outside of chronological order, bounce back and forth between foreign adventures and domestic routines. One moment we’re in a Mommy and Me yoga class, the next we’re gutting a goat in rural Zimbabwe. As much a meditation on language as a coming to terms with middle age, these stories navigate the distance between words and worlds. And yet whether getting chased by wild dogs through the alleyways of Kathmandu or desperately trying to stop his three-year-old from drawing all over the walls, Berman contemplates life’s ambiguities with both wisdom and wonder.
A genius play on the meaning of words and how they can contradict and connect and give a sense of the whole. Each vignette takes one word and looks at its different facets. Each topic connects to the ones before and after. And yet it wasn't shoved in my face in a way that made those words stand out and seem awkward. It was just an experience.