Summary

1

(untitled chapter) One hundred and one-year-old Daniel Gluck washes up on shore, amazed to still be alive. He sees his body is still the same old, withered body with the bad knees, so he knows he is not dead. He realizes he is naked, and that some girls are approaching, so he dashes to the cover of the dunes, hoping from there to seek cover in the woods. Daniel is thrilled to feel excitement again, so he imagines he must indeed be in Heaven. He takes shelter in a patch of trees to get his bearings, which Daniel amuses himself by considering “bare-ings.” Daniel thinks of the poet John Keats who also explored puns before his death. Daniel stitches together some autumn leaves using only one another to make clothing. It calls him to reflect on the past such as when, in the 1980s...