The title for the anthology is derived from
William Shakespeare's
Sonnet 73. In his introduction, the author reveals that, at eighty years of age, he 'no longer has the right kind of energy' to write books, and that what follows is a collection of short pieces. The pieces in question are varied in nature. A number are brief memoirs. In his description of a year spent in Europe, the author recalls meeting
Princess Margaret and
Alice B. Toklas, and witnessing
Pope Pius XII conduct a Christmas Eve mass at
St. Peter's Basilica. Additionally, he reflects on the success enjoyed by his first novel, ''
A Long Day's Dying, and the composition of his second novel, The Season's Difference.'' Elsewhere, Buechner also remembers a journey with his mother late in her life, his friendship with
Maya Angelou, and briefly meeting
Dwight D. Eisenhower,
Franklin D. Roosevelt, and
Harry S. Truman. The anthology also includes a short story that was initially intended to form part of a fifth installment of the
Bebb tetralogy, a brief reflection on
Charles Dickens's
A Christmas Carol, and a series of 'Family Poems'. Buechner debuted several of the pieces featured in
The Yellow Leaves at the inauguration of the
Buechner Institute at
King University (now the Institute for Faith and Culture).
Publishers Weekly called the volume 'distinctly elegiac', while the reviewer for the
Sewanee Theological Review noted that 'much of the book is about death'. == References ==