Far Off Things is a series of autobiographical sketches by the great Arthur Machen; notice how even in fairly mundane prose from nearly the beginning, there's a haunting quality to the words themselves. This book chronicles Machens life from his years as a child, to his early year in London. Unlike a typical autobiography, this doesn't follow a traditional chronological pattern and instead weaves in and out of time as a stream of thought. At no point is this ever a problem, and if anything gives the reader a look into Machens head. It wonderfully depicts a happy carefree childhood, the loneliness of being on your own in London, and the joy of his first publication. (Goodreads)
Arthur Machen (3 March 1863 – 15 December 1947) was the pen-name of Arthur Llewellyn Jones, a Welsh author and mystic of the 1890s and early 20th century. He is best known for his influential supernatural, fantasy, and horror fiction. His novella The Great God Pan (1890; 1894) has garnered a reputation as a classic of horror, with Stephen King describing it as "Maybe the best [horror story] in the English language." He is also well known for "The Bowmen", a short story that was widely read as fact, creating the legend of the Angels of Mons.