I appreciate the opening of Jacklighting: "It is Nicholas's birthday. Last year he was alive..." (p. 77). Beattie might as well have written "Something bad happened, and everything is different now," much as Banks might've written "something bad will happen, and it will change everything" in "The Child Screams and Looks Back at You." Of course Beattie uses this wording on purpose, and we are led through a description of somewhat mundane activities before learning that Nicholas had brain damage and died after being hit by a drunk driver.
Nicholas appears to have been the eccentric or a visionary, definitely the one who noticed things no one else notices. It may be that trait of his that has become his brother and friend's biggest loss. He is the man, Beattie writes, in what I assume to be Henri Cartier-Bresson's "Brussels, Belgium" (1932), who is looking to the side, rather than at the wall.
Beattie's style reminds me a bit of Kerouac, in the way she describes the details of everyday life. In the end, what else is there?
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