An anchor in the sea of time : essays /
"Books of essays," Stephen Harrigan writes in a short introduction to this collection, "tend to be assembled more than planned." An Anchor in the Sea of Time is more planned than assembled, as Harrigan's seniority has allowed him to pick and choose his topics in the later st...
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| Format: | Book |
| Language: | English |
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Austin :
University of Texas Press,
[2025].
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| Edition: | First edition. |
| Summary: | "Books of essays," Stephen Harrigan writes in a short introduction to this collection, "tend to be assembled more than planned." An Anchor in the Sea of Time is more planned than assembled, as Harrigan's seniority has allowed him to pick and choose his topics in the later stages of his career. While each essay stands on its own (most have already been published in Texas Monthly or the Alcalde), there is a steady focus on memory, identity and history, both individual and collective. Harrigan's writing became more personal, and more focused on the topics that anchor this collection, with the publication of "Off Course," a 2016 piece about his father, who was killed in a plane crash before he was born. Subsequent pieces like "The Voice in the Tree," about a crisis of identity he had as a child, or "A Family Painting," about art that hung in his grandparents house and "whose subject matter and colors became part of my consciousness," continue that exploration of remembering his youth. Other pieces are both personal and generational, such as an essay about a group trip to Vietnam that stirs up feelings of class privilege in those who fought in the war and those (like Harrigan) who did their best not to. |
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| Physical Description: | xiii, 182 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm. |
| ISBN: | 9781477333051 1477333053 |