{"product_id":"an-imperfect-rapture-9780990633365","title":"An Imperfect Rapture","description":"\u003cp\u003e\"Written with the spare, sensual, and deeply evocative prose of a master, this brave and ultimately transcendent memoir is an absolute gem. What Kelly J. Beard accomplishes here is stunning: by stepping nakedly back into her youth as the daughter of Christian fundamentalists, a lifelong couple whose love for one another never seemed to wane, she also steps back into violence and neglect, poverty and the shame of the poor, the striving for one's very selfhood when few seem to be able to help or pay much attention. And Beard renders all of this, and more, with a poet's clear-eyed search for the truth. \u003ci\u003eAn Imperfect Rapture\u003c\/i\u003e is a plaintive hymn of forgiveness, and it moved me to tears many times over. This is, quite simply, a beautiful book.\" \u003cb\u003e--Andre Dubus III, author of \u003ci\u003eGone So Long\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eDirty Love\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Haunting in its recall, this elegiac book spins through a galaxy of fundamentalism, poverty and mental illness. Instead of 'coming of age, ' it's a 'coming to terms' story, burning with desire to cut loose from a demon-possessed past. It's an eyewitness account of what happened inside a dark house. Beard's writing is vast, engulfing, accomplished. In many ways A\u003ci\u003en Imperfect Rapture\u003c\/i\u003e is itself a faith healing.\" \u003cb\u003e--Janisse Ray, author of \u003ci\u003eEcology of a Cracker Childhood\u003c\/i\u003e (Milkweed Editions)\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"\u003ci\u003eAn Imperfect Rapture\u003c\/i\u003e is transcendent--a story of personal grace and self-realization, one woman's courageous path through the shadows of a fundamentalist youth. The memoir itself is a kind of prayer, a kind of promise, in which the vibrant prose shimmers, as in this passage, with 'a dreamy quality, as though conjured from smoke, trailing the razor edge of reality...' A luminous debut.\" \u003cb\u003e--Harrison Candelaria Fletcher, author of \u003ci\u003ePresentimiento: A Life in Dreams\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"I am deeply shaken and moved by Kelly Beard's conscientious, harrowing, and psychologically acute memoir of her childhood and youth. She evokes the confusing, abusive, fundamentalist world of her impoverished family with an eerie precision and clarity. \u003ci\u003eAn Imperfect Rapture\u003c\/i\u003e is an insightful, courageous book.\" \u003cb\u003e--Edward Hirsch, author of \u003ci\u003eGabriel: A Poem\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Living Fire\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"From religion to love to death to demons to angels to discovering the secret mechanisms of forgiveness, \u003ci\u003eAn Imperfect Rapture\u003c\/i\u003e is, in fact, rapturously perfect. Kelly Beard's debut memoir is not to be missed.\" \u003cb\u003e--Connie May Fowler, author of \u003ci\u003eBefore Women Had Wings\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eA Million Fragile Bones\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Zone 3 Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 11\/01\/2018\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780990633365\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 282\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.05lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.90h x 6.00w x 0.90d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eReview Citations: \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003ci\u003eForeword\u003c\/i\u003e 10\/26\/2018\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e 01\/01\/0001\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Kelly Beard","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53678488322229,"sku":"9780990633365","price":11.9,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/files\/9780990633365.jpg?v=1793721992","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/an-imperfect-rapture-9780990633365","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}