Year Without Months

Charles Dodd White's fourteen essays wander through family, grief, manhood, and the landscapes that shape a person. Their starting point is the suicides of his father, his uncle, and his son, and the question they keep returning to is how someone goes on living once nearly everything that made life bearable has been lost.

White does not settle for consolation. He turns toward the natural world, digs back into a family history that has never been easy to face, and chases the small signs that a full life might still be possible. His writing avoids sentimental comfort and worn-out phrasing, and it moves steadily toward some form of renewal.

The book is peopled with striking characters, and White brings a wide emotional range to each of them. He examines everyone in the pages, himself included, with the same unflinching attention.