Flotsam: A Life in Debris (Paperback)

by Denis Horgan (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"The same personality with the same blend of wisdom and wit shines from
all of these essays, the same generous love of the world and its beings."
- Nuala O'Faolain, author of "Are You Somebody?"
"Denis Horgan looks at the world with eyes that see the extraordinary in
the so-called ordinary things we so often overlook. Here is a man who has
looked tragedy and suffering in the eye: grew up a hardscrabble latchkey
kid with a love for newspapers and, God help him, the Red Sox; became a
copy boy at the Boston Globe; did his tour of duty with the Vietnam war;
became editor & publisher, writer, and (literally) head of exorcisms for a
newspaper in Thailand; came home and navigated the politics of
newspapering life inside the Beltway; cared for a brother dying of AIDS;
choked in the dust of ground zero; survived teenage sons!; paced hospital
floors of a neonatal ICU awaiting the fate of his beloved grandson.
Through it all, he shows us with wit and wisdom the beauty to be seen, and
gives us eyes to see it; lessons to be learned and the heart to learn
them."
- Margaret A. Salinger, author of "Dream Catchers."


"Those of us who've gotten a taste of Denis's work at the Hartford Courant
are happy to have here the whole enchilada -- page after page of evocative
writing about the utter uniqueness of our common ground, the office desk
and its trinkets. This is a long way from flotsam. In fact, it's downright
lyrical."
-- Susan Campbell, columnist for The Hartford Courant

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Review

"As satisfying a read as any good novel. There's genuine passion in these essays."  —Hartford Courant

"Poignant essays inspired by knickknacks . . . filled with Horgan's musings and reflections, lapses in faith, and recovered strength."  —Rain Taxi Review

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 198 pages
• Publisher: Higganum Hill Books (November 20, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0977655660
• ISBN-13: 978-0977655663
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,420,081 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hartford Courant Review, September 11, 2007

By	D. Horgan (Connecticut) - See all my reviews

In Denis Horgan's Hands, Trinkets Evoke Magic Moments

By MICHAEL LEE | Special to The Courant

September 9, 2007

Essay writing can be slippery business. First off, the writer has to have something to say. You'd be surprised how tricky a bar this can be to get over. And then he has to be able to write in such a way that is appealing to a broad range of readers, which makes for an even deeper roster cut. When it all works, as it does in Denis Horgan's "Flotsam: A Life in Debris," it's as satisfying a read as any good novel.

Trinkets and small mementos are the common denominator of Horgan's collection and provide his essays with their launching pad. Whether it's a dandelion, a rock found embedded in a windshield near Ground Zero, a small Coke bottle, a note about flying a kite, or, yes, even a strawberry condom, all play a role in illustrating Horgan's point that it is the small and seemingly insignificant moments of life that have such intrinsic value. In the hands of a lesser storyteller, some of this material could have become preachy, but Horgan seldom allows matters to go astray.

There's genuine passion to be found in these essays, especially when Horgan riffs on the newspaper business. Short of getting a job at your nearest gazette, reading "Flotsam" is the next closest thing to having your own fourth-estate experience. His poignant and humor-laden anecdotes about the inner workings of newspapers will make you feel as though you have ink on your hands and a deadline in your heart.



After his Army obligation is concluded, Horgan's serendipitous rise to become the young editor and publisher of The Bangkok World is one of those notable right-place, right-time moments in life, all of it told in Horgan's infectious, self-effacing Everyman voice. It's an appealing tone that he manages to maintain throughout the collection.

Horgan takes us along from Boston to Bangkok to Washington and Hartford and places in between, all to underscore the point that it is the little things in life that count. And when he does veer to a larger landscape, his essay on the Sept. 11 attacks movingly reminds us not of tragedy but the courage and resolve of a city wrapped in heroism.

There are surprising asides as well. A reader might expect that a writer such as Horgan would take aim at his Army experience and mine it for all it's predictably ironic worth, but he disarms us with this refreshing take on his peers in the service:

"It was full of interesting people from all corners of the land. To an amazing degree, considering what was demanded of them, they lived their life with a spirit of duty and service from which the rest of society could learn much. They were smarter than ever given credit for, more loyal, more profane, more brave and considerably more often in mad peril than anything I'd ever seen or imagined."

That's a generosity you don't hear often, especially from a writer who seldom passes up the opportunity for a zinging good line. It's also one of the ingredients that goes into "Flotsam" that makes it so believable and user-friendly.

No book is perfect, and among the 186 pages of gems and revelations, Horgan suffers from bursts of adverbia and adjectivia, two maladies that can afflict the best of writers. He loves language and occasionally uses it as though he's being paid a dollar a word. A keen-eyed editor could have honed these wonderful observations and allowed them to bob to the surface quicker.

Still, that is a minor quibble considering the rewards that are liberally sprinkled throughout this admirable collection. If it can be said that good essays share the author's experience while adding to your own, you won't find a more agreeable and entertaining partner in those discoveries than Denis Horgan.


Michael Lee is a columnist and literary editor of The Cape Cod Voice. His latest book is the essay collection "In an Elevator With Brigitte Bardot."

5.0 out of 5 stars Moving forward while looking back . . ., May 29, 2009

By	L. Ruth Douillette (Bridgewater, MA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

To make sense of life, a look at the past and the lessons learned is essential. Denis Horgan's past is on display on his office desk, small treasures worth nothing monetarily, but priceless to his heart. He shares what it is that makes each object--bits of flotsam--special enough to have each earned a place on successive desks at the various newspapers for which he's worked.

Many of us have small keepsakes that have meaning or sentimental value, but, I dare say, few of us would be able to say more than a few hundred words about a carved wooden trinket, or a broken plastic hook, let alone delve into the deeper meaning of life that the item suggests, the life lesson the item teaches.

For Horgan it isn't the places and the facts that matter; it's the people. This book is about connections with people Horgan cares about, family and friends important to him, and the newspaper career that has enriched his life--and the lives of his readers.

Horgan shares the story behind a dozen objects that grace his desk. The writing flows, a bit like free association, a bit like poetry, at times a bit like a paper chain with thoughts are linked one to the other, but always with a purpose, always to return full circle at the end of each essay. In fact, the book itself arrives full-circle taking us around the globe as we follow Horgan's early career, and his stint in the army. He ends where he began, an entirely organized and neatly done book, especially for a man who claims to love a life of uncertain unruliness.

Flotsam is written with humor and sorrow, a soft gentleness and a steel edge, providing moments of tears, and moments that bring a laugh--yes, even LOL moments. It's a poignant read that will thoroughly engage readers.