Things We Do That Make No Sense

We are guilty of actions that make no sense. We perform acts of beauty and acts of ugliness. We give in to hidden ambitions, latent hungers, and clumsy grasps at insight.

At the heart of these stories are the rituals--grand and small--in which we humans partake; the peculiar gestures we hope will forge meaning or help us glean some sort of understanding. They may be formally ceremonial and spiritual, like the imposition of ashes in a darkened church. But often they are secular, private, and bizarre. A woman slips her son's old baby tooth into her mouth as he's led away to prison. A girl in a tunnel plays an invisible piano while bombs ravage the city above. A man with a laser machine creates a private galaxy to rekindle lost love. A daughter frantically searches a wax museum for her mother's second self.

Set mostly in Michigan, the stories in The Things We Do That Make No Sense are woven through with the power of ritual and glimmer with lush descriptions and poignant dialogue. From both the everyday and the sacred, these characters piece together the strange mosaic of life.

Author: Adam Schuitema
Publisher: Northern Illinois University Press
Published: 03/15/2017
Pages: 178
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.65lbs
Size: 8.90h x 6.00w x 0.70d
ISBN: 9780875807638

About the Author

Adam Schuitema is the author of the novel Haymaker and the short story collection Freshwater Boys. He is associate professor of English at Kendall College of Art and Design and lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan, with his wife and daughter.

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