Received word from Booklist that they've given The Point of Vanishing a starred review in their August issue! Here's the link ! And here's an excerpt!
“This elegant, questioning memoir...achingly limns Axelrod’s two years living alone in a ramshackle cabin in the Vermont woods. His writing—whether describing an aspect of the wilderness around him or noting the “first lesson of solitude: everything really is your fault”—is lush and savory, exact in its intent to document just how Axelrod regained the ability to feel “that quiet of already belonging.” That he allows the reader to participate in this journey, from whatever distance, is more than a pleasure—it’s an honor. A Rockefeller grant had taken Axelrod for a year to Bologna, and there he met the hauntingly beautiful Milena, and the memoir flashes between his life in the woods, avoiding even looking in a mirror in his cabin, and the love he shared and ultimately lost with Milena. By their very nature, memoirs speak of the past. Axelrod so adroitly and wisely re-creates the youngster he was that readers forget the passing of time, hearing only the voice of sorrow, longing, and determination. This memoir is a keeper, touching and eloquent, full of hard lessons learned. Readers will hope for more from first-time-author Axelrod.”
—Eloise Kinney