The Touching That Lasts
Every story in this collection is a testament to the power of human touch—be it emotional, physical, or spiritual—to transcend time and circumstance. Yet each one is distinct from the others. In “Northern Lights,” a boy of fifteen, shamed into driving, hits a coyote. His uncle takes him back with a .22 to kill the injured animal, but the uncle instead gets down in the road and sings to the coyote about his own pain. In “Ringo Bingo,” a man abandons his wife at a Walmart and, in his exploration of the city, comes upon a huge warehouse where different virtual realities are available to explore. In “What Shall Become of Me?” a young Black girl in Selma, Alabama, has a photographic memory she tries to hide from her teacher and others around her. In “Two Minutes of Forgetting” a composer is hired to play the piano for a catatonic woman, which affects both of them in surprising ways.
Nelson's prose is imbued with a quiet sensitivity that draws the reader into his characters’ inner lives.
“DuPree fingered one of Zeno’s homemade cinnamon rolls and plucked an orange from the pyramid in the case. He laid the pastry on the newspaper on the counter and held the orange in his hand. It seemed odd to DuPree he could exchange something so worthless as money for something so beautiful as an orange.”
“The Touching That Lasts is an inspired collection, full of empathy for people and places. Nelson knows how to turn mere words into grand and profound meaning; how places hold great power over us; and how to probe deeply in order to find joys, hurts, and hearts. ”
“Kent Nelson is one of the most prolific short story writers in America, and this collection shows why he is published so widely and so well. These stories go deep into the heart of human experience, without resorting to artifice or tricks or anything unnecessary; they simply shine with subtlety and intelligence.”
“Kent Nelson...has an amazing gift for creating physical realities. And it is astonishing that one person can know so much.”
Publisher: Bower House, 2020