A Westbound Sun: Selected Poems, Stories and Essays

A young farmer and his team of horses plunge into a freight train in 1915. A callow teenager shoots an intruder to death in the early 1950's. A high school boy encounters Louis Armstrong. A college student meets his poetic idol. A journalist rides a nuclear submarine into the depths of his fears and ambitions. A middle-aged man finally confronts a deadly illness and forms lifelong bonds of sustainment. A poet exchanges text messages with a bird. An aged lover counsels a young star-gazer. A fisherman seeks truth from rivers. An octogenarian ponders tragedy and gratitude. A husband, father and brother pledges his gratitude to his wife, daughter and family. In the versatile and compelling rhythms of his short stories, memoirs and poems, Jim Hurley contemplates the stunning beauty and sorrow of living and illuminates how love and resilience make life and our betrothal to it more coherent. "Like Orpheus, Jim Hurley leads us into hell but finds the wherewithal to lead us back into sunlight." - Robert Bernard Hass