It All Felt Impossible: 42 Years in 42 Essays

In this meditative and lyrical collection, Tom McAllister challenges himself to write a short essay for every year he’s been alive. With each piece strictly limited to a maximum of 1,500 words, these 42 essays move fluidly through time, taking poetic leaps and ending up in places the reader does not expect. Funny, insightful, and open-hearted, It All Felt Impossible aims to tell the story of McAllister’s life through brief glimpses, anecdotes, and fragments that radiate outward and grapple with his place in the culture at large. In the span of these essays, McAllister witnesses a monorail crash at a zoo, survives a tornado, plays youth sports for tyrannical coaches, grieves for dead parents, learns how to ride a bike as an adult, works long shifts making cheesesteaks, and more. Each annual
offering is a search for meaning and connection, chronicled by an engaging and honest voice. A testament to the power of creative constraints and finding innovative ways to tell one’s story, It All Felt Impossible: 42 Years in 42 Essays is a compelling document of an idiosyncratic human existence that volleys so skillfully between the mundane and the profound that readers will find themselves marveling at these essays long after they have read them.

“These are my favorite kinds of essays: honest, concise, funny, self-aware, and engaged with the world. Whether Tom McAllister is writing about dogs, jobs, marriage, death, friendship, sports, or anything else, It All Felt Impossible combines the brisk pace of a good memoir with the inquiry, insight, and breadth of the best essay collections. The result is one of the freshest and most engaging books I’ve read in years.”
—Justin St. Germain, author of Son of a Gun: A Memoir

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