I seldom remember my dreams, but a long time ago I dreamed that I stood on the moon gazing at Earth. The exquisite glory of that vision has haunted me ever since and I have longed in vain to return to that sublime moment atop a lunar plateau taking in the dazzling silver disk of our planet. So it was easy for me to identify with the protagonist of Dan Simmons’s Phases of Gravity. Richard Baedecker is a former astronaut for whom standing on the moon has eclipsed all other experiences including love. Baedecker has literally come down to earth, but until his heart returns from the moon he will remain emotionally handicapped.

Having myself stood on the moon, at least in a dream, I can’t blame Simmons’s hero for struggling so desperately to cling to the memory, even if by doing so it takes such a terrible toll on his human relationships. Read Phases of Gravity and decide if you could relinquish your grip on an experience that only a handful of humans has been privileged to have.

– Richard Curtis

Above photo from NASA’s Apollo 8 Mission, the famous “earthrise.”