The Touching That Lasts

In "The Touching That Lasts" Kent Nelson captures the inner workings of human relationships and exposes our most secret selves. This collection of unique short stories delves into the souls of men and women, young and old. Kent demonstrates an intimate understanding of the internal workings of our psyche in each new tale. I highly recommend this book. Patrice St. Onge

Few people write short stories as well as Kent Nelson. Among the many reasons to read these stories is the fact that he is a birder, and birds are usually found in his stories, helping the narrator tell them with their colors, actions, habits and calls. From "Rituals of Sleep" to "Northern Lights", to "Tides" to "Ringo Bingo" to the title story of the collection, "The Touching That Lasts", each new story is captivating in a different way than the story which preceded it. If you're a fan of New Realism or if you're already a fan of Kent Nelson's stories, you won't be disappointed with this collection.

This is a great collection of stories of ordinary people finding hope, truth and acceptance in their lives even when it is difficult for those that love them. Kent Nelson looks deep into the hearts of common men and women and threads universal emotions of love, sadness, grief, desire, loneliness, and touch among them. From a Navajo teenager coming into manhood on the reservation to a retired woman who still feels the desires from her past to a man finding truth in a video bingo game, Nelson inspires us to think beyond where we are to what might be if each of us would do the very things that scare us the most to be ourselves. He uses landscape, wildlife and birds to acknowledge that his characters are part of the bigger world while transforming the reader through heartfelt longings of love and physical awareness. Imaginative, creative and controlled this collection should be on Oprah's list of best reads!

The writing in these short stories is phenomenal. The descriptions and uses of words touches deep into the heart and soul of the reader. There is beauty, there is angst, there is compassion, there is wonder, there is love. The danger in reading these beautiful stories is that other writing will seem shallow and uninteresting in comparison. Truly, a modern day Conrad is among us in Kent Nelson.