This Death by Drowning
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Kloefkorn, William, PUBLISHER: University ong>ofong> Nebraska Press, The first volume in William Kloefkorn's four-part ong>memoirong> which, when completed, will cover the four elements: water, fire, earth, and air."" "This Death by Drowning "is a ong>memoirong> ong>withong> a difference--an artfully assembled collection ong>ofong> reminiscences, each having something to do ong>withong> water. The book's epigraph, from Norman Maclean's "A River Runs Through It," proclaims, "I am haunted by waters." So--and in most rewarding ways--is William Kloefkorn. The first chapter recalls the time when, at age ong>sixong>, the author "came ong>withong>in one gulp ong>ofong> drowning" in a Kansas cow-pasture pond, only to be saved by his father. A later chapter recounts Kloefkorn's younger brother's near death by drowning a few years later; still another envisions the cycle ong>ofong> drought and torrential rains on his grandparents' Kansas farm. There are fanciful memories ong>ofong> the Loup and other Nebraska rivers, interlaced ong>withong> Mark Twain's renderings ong>ofong> the Mississippi and John Neihardt's poetic descriptions ong>ofong> the Missouri. And there are stories ong>ofong> more recent times--a winter spent in a cabin on the Platte River, and an ong>ofong>ten amusing Caribbean cruise that Kloefkorn took ong>withong> his wife. Throughout, Kloefkorn takes his memories for a walk, following each recollection into unexpected, fruitful byways. Along the way he pauses at larger themes--ong>ofong> nature, death, family, and renewal--that gradually gather irresistible force and authority.