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.