ampampquotFlows with depth and power.wideopen wonder.ampampquotWashington Postampampamp8220Simon Van Booy electrifyingly combines story with parable.wise witty and always breathtakingly beautiful.ampampamp8221ampampamp8212San Francisco Chronicle Best Fiction of the Yearampampamp10As a writer lies dying he has one last story to tell a tale of faith and devotion a meditation on what lies beyond this life and a prayer of gratitude that may lead to rebirth. This is Simon Van Booy at his visionary best.ampampamp10ampampamp10ampampamp8220Language is a map leading to a place not on the mapampampamp8221 announces a young writer lying in a hospital bed at the beginning of The Presence of Absence. As he contemplates his impending physical disappearance and the impact on his beloved wife he realizes ampampamp8220Life doesnt start when youampampamp8217re born .