Furnishing Eternity, David Giffels
Furnishing Eternity, David Giffels
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Furnishing Eternity
A Father, a Son, a Coffin, and a Measure of Life

Author: David Giffels

Narrator: Eric Michael Summerer

Unabridged: 6 hr 17 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 01/02/2018


Synopsis

David Giffels grew up fascinated by his father's dusty, tool-strewn workshop and the countless creations—both practical and fantastical—it inspired. So when he enlisted his eighty-one-year-old dad for the unusual project of building a casket, he thought of it mostly as a way to learn and to spend time together. Life had other plans.

The unexpected death of his mother and, a year later, of his best friend, coupled with turning fifty and the growing realization that his father won't always be around for such offbeat adventures, leads to a harsh confrontation with mortality and loss.

In this soulful, panoramic memoir and father-son story, Giffels confronts some of the hardest questions common people face with wisdom and humor, unraveling the absence and presence of the people who define us and taking a true measure of life. Furnishing Eternity is the story of a year brought down by loss, a family finding hope in its roots, and the unexpected epiphanies to be found in the things we build. Heartfelt, unvarnished, and piercing with insight, this powerful memoir is Giffels' most intimate exploration of the values and traditions that illuminate the Midwest.

About David Giffels

David Giffels is the author of The Hard Way on Purpose: Essays and Dispatches From the Rust Belt, nominated for the PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay, the memoir All the Way Home, winner of the Ohioana Book Award, and Furnishing Eternity. His writing has appeared in the New York Times Magazine, the Atlantic.com, Parade, the Wall Street Journal, Esquire.com, Grantland.com, Redbook, and many other publications. He also was a writer for the MTV series Beavis and Butt-Head. He is an associate professor of English at the University of Akron, where he teaches creative nonfiction in the Northeast Ohio Master of Fine Arts Program.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Margie on January 09, 2018

This review can’t heap enough praise on this book. It is so beautifully written and honest— about life and death and family. I don’t know that you have to have lost someone close to appreciate what he says, but it hit very close to home for me. The humor that he manages to keep throughout the book i......more

Goodreads review by Anneke on December 25, 2023

was debating between 4 and 5 stars but I’m going to give it 5 because the last page made me cry lol and books don’t often make me cry so it must be effective in some way. I’ve been getting much more into woodworking recently and perhaps also thinking about mortality less but objects and their humanit......more

Goodreads review by Julie on August 29, 2018

David Giffels has written one of the best midlife crisis books I have yet to read. It's not depressing, despite the title, rather it's hopeful, thoughtful, powerful and at times funny! The book is written as a series of short pieces the weave together several years of loss and pain that the author e......more

Goodreads review by Carl on July 31, 2018

The author really didn't have enough story for a full book so he filled it with some related tangents, but still tangents. I had hoped for more given the glowing NYT review.......more

Goodreads review by Kristina on April 17, 2018

A beautiful and intimate story of love and the people in our lives who make it worth living.......more