Bill Clunie

The Density of a 100-page Suicide Note Bill Clunie

Publisher Marketing: Nearly blind and still writing, the protagonist of "Density" is more than loosely based on the author's life. "I do, actually, love her. I can't let her know that, as it would just be embarrassing. She is barely thirty years old. I'm fifty-three. She seems young for her age. I feel old for mine. I dream, though. In dreams I can see. I see Anke. She emailed me a picture early on and I stared closely at it, blond hair, round face, an easy smile, a sweet spirit shining through blue eyes. In my dreams I see her clearly." Part memoir, part literary diary, "Density" follows the author through the maze of daily life, struggling to cope while almost blind and still create art and meaning. "There is another world though that I catch glimpses of. One where Miriam is alive, where Anke loves me, ME, and not Mats, some guy she mentions now and then; she loves me, even though I'm old enough to be her father, have no prospects, and am going blind... In that other world I spend my nights with her and my days working on my latest novel, using my 20/20 vision to focus on the tiny letters in my notebook, letters that form words that make sentences that sing." A book of death and a book of life, "Density" is a love story for our time.