In his latest essay collection, Thomas Beller trains his piercing literary eye on how a single, seismic event indelibly shapes the trajectory of the common and mundane experiences of one's life. Weaving together a charming set of autobiographical stories, Beller interrogates the randomness and contingencies that separate sadness from joy, death from life. His father escaped the Nazis, only to die in America from cancer when Beller was nine years old. Beller measures how his loss impacted his life as the father of two young children and became a catalyst for understanding and an ever-present sorrow. At the same time, ordinary moments - from retrieving an iPod from the subway tracks or encountering the police at a Kinks concert to observing his young tutued ballerina daughter at a gas station - lead to instances of penetrating insight, self-deprecation, and flashes of humor. Degas at the Gas Station presents an endearing and bracingly honest portrait of the author as an ever-curious observer of the mysteries and profundities of everyday life.
Thomas Beller is Professor of English at Tulane University, a regular contributor to the New Yorker, and the author of several books, most recently, Lost in the Game: A Book about Basketball, also published by Duke University Press.
Acknowledgments xi Introduction: The Misunderstandings 1 The Frozen River, Part I 15 iPod on the Tracks 18 The Stuff of Life 21 The Bad News Bears and Breaking Away 26 The Kinks at the Garden 34 The Lost Glove 46 On Moving Out 49 Falling Out with Father Figures 66 The Laundry Room 71 Us and Them 77 The Topographical Soul 85 Negative Space 89 The Purple Krama 99 2. The Rights Loose Teeth 107 Degas at the Gas Station 111 Thanksgiving Panic 115 The Pink Comma 121 How I Found My iPhone in New Orleans 127 The Two-Thousand-Dollar Popsicle 134 On Finding a Spot 140 Saying Goodbye to Now 146 Remembrance of Snows Past 151 Repeat, Memory 160 The Perils of Precocity 164 Drain You 169 Her Party 173 Napoleon on the Back Stairs 178 The Egg Cream in Mid-Manhattan, 1982 186 Somebody's Mother Is Waiting in the Lobby 197 The Time My Band Opened for Blur 203 Death of a Movie Theater 209 A Few Words About Jerry Stiller 216 Loitering with Intent at Manet/Degas 220 The Rights 226 Evacuation 237 The Frozen River (Reprise) 243 Index 265
"Thomas Beller writes with wit, irony, skepticism, and brio. Degas at the Gas Station is one of the finest collections of personal essays I have seen in a long while." - Phillip Lopate, author of My Affair with Art House Cinema: Essays and Reviews "The true power of this excellent collection comes through Thomas Beller's ability to dig down into the ordinary and commonplace for new and revelatory insight. A master of the small moment, Beller is one of the strongest personal essayists in contemporary literature." - Said Sayrafiezadeh, author of American Estrangement: Stories "This is a treasure trove of glimmering pieces on fatherhood and youth, odd jobs and urban life. The essay lives every time Thomas Beller picks up the pen." - Ed Park, author of Same Bed Different Dreams: A Novel
