Illumination / Kevin Brockmeier 257 p.

What would it be like if we could see one another's suffering? Brockmeier explores this idea in a series of loosely interwoven vignettes in which all physical pain, from a hangnail to cancer, lights up brilliantly. Our Monday Matters book group discussed this last night, with different reactions. The mood here was dark and sad, but the writing...my goodness, it was gorgeous. More a meditation on suffering and loneliness than a novel, in my view, this is the product of an amazing imagination. I won't forget it soon.