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Title details for This Is Only a Test by B. J. Hollars - Available

This Is Only a Test

by B. J. Hollars
ebook
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The Truman Capote Prize-winning author “provides an offbeat look at the fragility of human life and our resilience when faced with death” (Kirkus).
On April 27, 2011, just days after learning of their pregnancy, B. J. Hollars, his wife, and their future son endured the onslaught of an EF-4 tornado. There, while huddled in a bathtub in their Alabama home, mortality flashed before their eyes. With the last of his computer battery, Hollars began recounting the experience, and would continue to do so in the following years, writing his way out of one disaster only to find himself caught up in another.
In this collection of personal essays, Hollars faces tornadoes, drownings, and nuclear catastrophes. These experiences force him to acknowledge the inexplicable while he attempts to overcome his greatest fear—the impossibility of protecting his newborn son from the world’s cruelties. Through his and others’ stories, Hollars creates a constellation of grief, tapping into the rarely acknowledged intersection between fatherhood and fear, sacrifice and safety, and the humbling effect of losing control of our lives.
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Series: Break Away Book Club Edition Publisher: Indiana University Press

Kindle Book

  • Release date: February 1, 2016

OverDrive Read

  • ISBN: 9780253018212
  • File size: 1211 KB
  • Release date: February 1, 2016

EPUB ebook

  • ISBN: 9780253018212
  • File size: 1387 KB
  • Release date: February 1, 2016
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Formats

Kindle Book
OverDrive Read
EPUB ebook

subjects

Biography & Autobiography Family & Relationships Literary Criticism Nonfiction

Languages

English

The Truman Capote Prize-winning author “provides an offbeat look at the fragility of human life and our resilience when faced with death” (Kirkus).
On April 27, 2011, just days after learning of their pregnancy, B. J. Hollars, his wife, and their future son endured the onslaught of an EF-4 tornado. There, while huddled in a bathtub in their Alabama home, mortality flashed before their eyes. With the last of his computer battery, Hollars began recounting the experience, and would continue to do so in the following years, writing his way out of one disaster only to find himself caught up in another.
In this collection of personal essays, Hollars faces tornadoes, drownings, and nuclear catastrophes. These experiences force him to acknowledge the inexplicable while he attempts to overcome his greatest fear—the impossibility of protecting his newborn son from the world’s cruelties. Through his and others’ stories, Hollars creates a constellation of grief, tapping into the rarely acknowledged intersection between fatherhood and fear, sacrifice and safety, and the humbling effect of losing control of our lives.
Expand title description text
Biography & Autobiography Family & Relationships Literary Criticism Nonfiction