Spared, by Shaun Deane reminds me of the quote from the Wes Anderson movie “Isle of Dogs” where the dog is asked where they are going: “To the north, a long rickety causeway over a noxious sludge marsh leading to a radioactive landfill polluted by toxic chemical garbage. That’s our destination.”
The Japanese practice of kintsugi teaches that broken objects are not something to hide but to display with pride. When a bowl or vase falls and breaks, most of us throw them away. My wife gets mad when I do this with super glue. Kintsugi uses a precious metal – liquid gold, liquid silver or lacquer dusted with powdered gold – to bring together the pieces of a broken pottery item and at the same time enhance the breaks. Every repaired piece is unique, because of the randomness with which ceramics shatters and the irregular patterns formed that are enhanced with the use of metals. Spared takes us down the rabbit hole of what Deane thought was the good New England picket fence fanciful construct of life , but instead runs him through the Hero’s Journey times ten. His departure stage, his many initiations, and ultimately his return, where he has traversed the worlds, transformed by the adventure, and has gained the wisdom and power that his prose imparts to us fellow rubes.
Deane has an elephant’s memory for detail and a wonderful writing style, comparable to Jeannette Walls’ masterpiece- The Glass Castle. I read this book as fast as I could, caught my breath, looked at the ceiling fan for several minutes, patted by dog, then called my dad and talked about how well the Red Sox were doing, and told him I loved him. Thank you Shaun for this wonderful read.
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