Country Matters (Paperback, Revised ed.)

Ben Travers finds that, as he settles in to old age, his memories-without a future to hold them back-become more vivid than whatever is happening during a particular day. He recalls the storm in which he met his first lover, Julie, and the turbulent night on which he met the beautiful Nell. His few years as an Air Force fighter pilot, the close calls and near misses, revisit him in dreams-usually nightmares-as he drives the potholed roads of Maine. He comes to believe that his life has become a journal-not "What I Did Today," but "What Happened to Me Many Years Ago." He wonders whether that is what happens to all men as they grow old. But life has more in store for him. He discovers this one day when he keeps an appointment at the VA Hospital in Togus and later when he picks up the phone and recognizes the voice on the other end. This novel reflects Jean-Francois Lyotard's argument against "grand narratives." "Mini-narratives," he says, are "provisional, contingent, temporary and relative." In fiction, such mini-narratives are the product of the narrator's memory. About the Author H. R. Coursen was born in New Jersey, attended Amherst College, Wesleyan University, and the University of Connecticut. He was a fighter pilot in the USAF. He has published 16 books on Shakespeare, 30 books of poetry, and 20 novels. His poetry has been a runner-up for the Pushcart Prize.