Full Description
Tim Laskowski's first novel provides a unique insider's look into the world of a brain-injured man. Fourteen years before the novel opers Montanan Robert Nyquist suffered traumatic injury in a rock-climbing accident near Missoula. His once-bright future irrevocably lost, he writes this account of his present life in a group home as he starts Transitions, a new rehab program that promises to teach him the skills necessary to live more independently His volunteer writing coach encourages him to articulate his feelings and helps him to make his work intelligible. In the process of telling his story, Robert explores the nature of his relationships-with Lorna, another resident who is dying of multiple sclerosis and with whom he has established a sexual and emotional bond; with his parents, who still struggle to accept their son's disabilities; with his own son John, whose very existence fills him with uncertainty; and with his caregivers Robert is desperate to achieve coherence and "appropriateness" in the midst of a swirling confusing reality. The grandson of Polish immigrants, Tim Laskowski grew up in Erie Pennsylvania, earning his B.A in social work from Cannon University. He received his M.A. In English and M.F.A. In creative writing from the University of Montana and his Ph.D. from Ohio University. He has worked in a Christian peace center, done volunteer social service work in Ireland, and worked in Child Protective Services. His fiction, poetry, essays, and reviews have appeared in many literary venues. He is co-author of A Race to Nowhere: An Arms Race Primer for Catholics. The father of a teenage son, Evan, Laskowski lives in Missoula, Montana, where he is a case manager for physically disabled people.
