Date of Disappearance — M. Allen Cunningham

Presenting an array of private conundrums, this assortment of ten distinctive stories trace the disappearance of things physical, spiritual, or poignantly unnamable from various characters' lives as they face, with humor or disquiet, the blessed and bewildering challenges of living. An evangelical minister sets out to win back the trust of his flock and save his 'fallen' teenage son, meanwhile tormented by his own bedroom sins; a lively centenarian languishes in the confines of a retirement home, longing for a youthful life of freedom; disease leads a bereaved woman toward long-avoided reconciliation; and a taxidermist studies life and death through the artful models he creates. Relevant and emotionally resonant at every turn, these stories have the power to remind us why forgiveness matters, how tenderness can overcome human frailty, and that love is always a work-in-progress.