my wife. I told him I would say some powerful prayers for him, and he said, “That is exactly what I want you to do.” He called me “my dearest friend,” which I couldn’t remember his ever having done before, and when I phoned the next morning to find out how things were going with him, I was told that he had died a few hours earlier. It was only then that I realized that the purpose of his call had of course been to say goodbye, and ever since then the ground I stand on has felt less sure and solid beneath my feet.’The author also reflects on his family, particularly on his relationship with his mother and his two grandmothers, the latter of which, he imagines a conversation with in his study. The memoir concludes with further reflections on the suicide of his father and his uncle, his memories of the birth of his brother, Jamie, their childhood together in Bermuda, their friendship as adults, and finally his passing in 1998. Themes As with Buechner’s previous three memoirs – The Sacred Journey (1982), Now and Then (1983), and Telling Secrets (1991) – The Eyes of the Heart discusses many of the themes that have come to be associated with the work of Frederick Buechner: faith, tragedy, the extraordinary nature of the ordinary, and, as Buechner scholar Dale Brown puts it, ‘the big idea that runs like a steady current through his career – the possibility of joy in the midst of puzzling reality.’ More than the previous works, however, this final autobiographical work considers the theme of death and the afterlife, as the author recalls the passing of those nearest to him. Commenting upon Buechner’s memoirs, Brown writes that the autobiographical works ‘illustrate Buechner’s theory of what he calls the “sacred function of memory” – the obliteration of the artificial designations of past, present, and future in order to reinhabit and reunderstand the moments of our lives.’ References Autobiographies 1999 books 1999 non-fiction books American autobiographies Literary autobiographies Books by Frederick Buechner