Fourteen Ways of Looking

Studded with moments of surprise, wit, and intellectual delight, this light-footed, piercing memoir of grief tracks reverberations of loss and acceptance across a lifetime.

When Erin Vincent was fourteen years old, both of her parents were killed in a traffic accident. Almost forty years later, the number fourteen began haunting Erin, appearing everywhere—in the books she was reading, in films, TV shows, and on the news.

The repetition felt significant, so Erin began to explore the number beyond her personal understanding. The result is Fourteen Ways of Looking, a memoir of magisterial fractals and a profound meditation on grief, memory, and the creative process.