What the Stones Remember

Inthis exquisitely written memoir, poet Patrick Lane describes his raw and tenderemergence at age sixty from a lifetime of alcohol and drug addiction. He spentthe first year of his sobriety close to home, tending his garden, where he casthis mind back over his life, searching for the memories he'd tried to drown invodka. Lane has gardened for as long as he can remember, and his garden's lifehas become inseparable from his own. A new bloom on a plant, a skirmish amongthe birds, the way a tree bends in the wind, and the slow, measured change ofseasons invariably bring to his mind an episode from his eventful past. Whatthe Stones Rememberis the emerging chronicle of Lane's attempt to face those memories, as well ashis new self—to rediscover his life. In this powerful and beautifully writtenbook, Lane offers readers an unflinching and unsentimental account of coming toone's senses in the presence of nature.