In Rooms of Memory

Hilary Masters (1928–2015) published novels, short fiction, and nonfiction and his work has been cited in Best American Short Stories, Best American Essays, and Pushcart Prize anthologies. In 2003 the American Academy of Arts and Letters gave his work its award for literature. He is the author of the novel Elegy for Sam Emerson and the book-length essay, Shadows on a Wall: Juan O'Gorman and the Mural in Patzcuaro. Best known for his memoir, Last Stands: Notes from Memory, Masters is also the author of How the Indians Buried Their Dead, a collection of short stories.

• AcknowledgmentsGoing to CubaChimeraIn My OrchardMaking It UpIn Rooms of MemoryMy Father's ImageIn Montaigne's TowerDouble ExposureSilence, PleaseDisorderly ConductIn the CardsA Day in BurgundyPassing through PittsburghThree Places in OhioMontaigne's BordeauxLoitering on the LoireProud FleshUnwiredThe End of Something

"Because of his age, broad experience, travels, open-hearted curiosity, and knowledge, Hilary Masters's book In Rooms of Memory has the kind of reflective depth that few such collections possess. It is gorgeously written and organized, a book of connections—between self and other, past and present, art and life."—Floyd Skloot, author of In the Shadow of Memory "Hilary Masters offers humor, insight, anecdote, food-appreciation and more—all while demonstrating the ability to zig (or zag) when others around him would forge straight ahead. . . . In exploring the past as it lives in the present, Masters proves a companionable and erudite guide."—Pittsburgh City Weekly "[Masters's] prose seems effortless. . . . This collection is worth reading for those who have not encountered Masters before. It will especially appeal to readers interested in the crafting of essays."—Library Journal