Past Imperfect is a three-part exploration of the imperfections
and failures of memory. In the first section, 'The Edge of Forgetting'
is concerned with the half-remembered and the futility of efforts to
give memories permanence. The second section, 'Penumbra', deals with
failures of neglectful public policy, particularly with respect to
social injustice and issues of war and peace. In the third part,
'Available Light', works of art are considered as efforts to express the
workings of imagination and preserve creations of consciousness. This
section is more than a collection of ekphrases; it is, instead, an
evocation of 'The Agony and the Ecstasy' of a life in the arts.