When Randall Kenans first collection was published the New York Times called it “nothing short of a wonder-book.” Now with inventiveness seasoned by maturity and shot through with humor Kenan riffs on appetites of all kinds on the eerie persistence of history on unstoppable losses and unexpected salvations.In Kenans fictional territory of Tims Creek North CarolinaWhen Randall Kenans first collection was published the New York Times called it “nothing short of a wonder-book.” Now with inventiveness seasoned by maturity and shot through with humor Kenan riffs on appetites of all kinds on the eerie persistence of history on unstoppable losses and unexpected salvations.In Kenans fictional territory of Tims Creek North Carolina an old man rages in his nursing home a parson beats up an adulterer a rich man is haunted by a hog and an elderly woman turns unwitting miracle worker. A retired plumber travels to Manhattan where Billy Idol sweeps him into his entourage. An architect who lost his famous lover to AIDS reconnects with a high school fling. Howard Hughes seeks out the woman who once cooked him butter beans.A rich chorus of voices and visions dreams and prophecies marked by physicality and spirit If I Had Two Wings is a glory.(less)