Inspired by a brother's high school science project--a perpetual motion
machine that could save the world-- The Perpetual Motion Machine
is a memoir in essays that attempts to save a sibling by depicting the
visceral pain that accompanies longing for some past impossibility. The
collection has been a science project in its study of memory, in the
calculation and plotting of the moments that make up a childhood. The
preparation has been "in the field" in that it is built upon the
gathering of lived experience; the evidence is photo albums, family
interviews, and anecdotes from friends. The project has been one giant
experiment--to see if they can all make it out alive.