Synopses & Reviews
Acclaimed poet and essayist David Biespiel tells the story of the rise and fall of a Jewish boyhood in Texas, and his search for the answer to his life’s central riddle: Are we ever done leaving home?
Written in the years that followed the devastation of Houston wrought by three 500-year floods in three years, including the worst flood in Texas history, Biespiel’s account is by turns personal and philosophical, a meditation on time’s inevitable losses and a writer’s hard-won gains.
A Place of Exodus is not only a memoir, but an essential companion for anyone who has journeyed far – and equally those who have stayed close to the unresolvable paradoxes of home, the aches of time and heart none of us can escape.
Review
“In the great American tradition of improvised cultural makings and unmakings, migration and recurrence, David Biespiel unfolds our national quest onto an unexpected terrain: a decidedly Texan and traditionally Jewish neighborhood of Houston. A surprising, heartbreaking and inspiring story.” Robert Pinsky
Review
"Those who've questioned their faith will find much to contemplate in this astute, richly told memoir." Publishers Weekly
Review
"In this moving, erudite book, the author offers an intimate, searching meditation on personal identity, and he effectively investigates the universal question of the nature and meaning of home. A poignantly eloquent memoir." Kirkus Reviews
About the Author
David Biespiel is author numerous books, including A Place of Exodus: Home, Memory, and Texas (Kelson Books, 2020), Every Writer has a Thousand Faces (Kelson Books, 2020), and A Long High Whistle (Antilever Press, 2015). He is the founder of the Attic Institute of Arts and Letters.