Summary

Part 2, October, cont’d – Van Gogh – The author considers the life and work of painter Vincent van Gogh who, as the author describes it, struggled with personal and creative issues. He comments on how, eventually, the artist let go of everything that was supposed to make up painterly or artistic technique, and also let go of trying to commit himself to life and to the world as it was. Instead, the author says, he became both artistically and professionally successful once he committed himself to death. Van Gogh’s creativity and inspiration, he says, relied “on the look he casts upon [what he is painting] really being his very last” (141).

The Migration of Birds – As the dinner he is preparing cooks, the author gathers some garbage and takes it outside. While there, he notes a small flock of geese flying in V-formation above him...