In our afternoon reading: Nikesh Shukla on Rita Bullwinkel’s writing, revisiting the music of The Streets, and more.
Items From My Parents
Items From My Parents
by Lydia G. Fash
Inventory-Items-Rev2.xlsx
7 Deadly Sins Wall sculptures Design Toscano, antique snowshoes, antique washing white ceramic basin & pitcher, wall hanging dream catcher made by Jill, carved cuckoo clock from Switzerland–not working, hardwood benches–2, pottery (made by Lydia?), antique leather football helmet. The spreadsheet of 702 things to give away is getting longer and longer as my parents work through the parts of their house where they have squirreled away items for thirty-three years. Each room becomes a heading for a jumble of the past. Each object awaits a new destination—the retirement apartment, a family member, a thrift store, or the planned auction. Each cell represents something to be claimed—and all of the emotions that go with it.
Adaptations With Added Dread: David Small’s “The Werewolf at Dusk and Other Stories”
Somehow it’s been 15 years since the publication of David Small’s graphic memoir Stitches. To call it a debut would be inaccurate; at that point, Small had already amassed a storied career as an illustrator of books for younger readers, including multiple collaborations with his wife, the writer Sarah Stewart. Stitches, the harrowing story of Small’s experience with cancer treatment and unexpected surgery during his teenage years, was a haunting work, one that immersed the reader in its creator’s body and mind during a turbulent period.
Morning Bites: Kate Briggs Interviewed, Rosali’s Latest, Matthew Daddona’s Playlist, and More
In our morning reading: an interview with Kate Briggs, thoughts on Rosali’s new album, and more.
Sunday Stories: “Chafing”
Chafing
by Em Pisacic
When my period first skipped, in February, I thought it was no biggie. A month later, after pregnancy tests came back negative, I dismissed its continued absence as a consequence of having started running more than twenty miles a week. April was spotless. May marked my third half-marathon, two months since I last had sex with Jack, and three since I had enjoyed it.
Afternoon Bites: R. O. Kwon Nonfiction, Belong Returns, José Vadi on Skateboarding, and More
In our afternoon reading: new writing by R. O. Kwon, an interview with José Vadi, and more.
An Excerpt From Samir Dahmani’s “Seoul Before Sunrise”
Today, we’re pleased to present an excerpt from Samir Dahmani’s graphic novel Seoul Before Sunrise, out soon from Humanoids. The graphic novel follows a young woman, Seong-ji, who finds herself adrift after a close friendship begins to implode. From the publisher’s description: “It’s during her overnight shifts that she encounters an enigmatic young woman who spends her nights entering the empty homes of other people to paint and photograph these places. Now, the normally rational Seong-ji finds herself swept up in a dreamlike otherworld, made up of freedom and creativity.”
Read on for a glimpse inside Seoul Before Sunrise:
Rethinking the Literature of Schizophrenia
Ask anyone to imagine a person with schizophrenia and they’ll picture a homeless man wandering the streets yelling at passersby, spittle flying, or a violent Malcom Tate-type, convinced that his niece is possessed by the devil. These are the images that linger in common imaginations. They haunt psyches and distort the experiences of the afflicted. Contrary to popular belief, people with schizophrenia are often not violent. They do hear voices, but with medication, people with schizophrenia can and do live fulfilling, even exceptional lives. Take Lori Schiller (The Quiet Room), deemed a disaster, never to recover—she ends up working in the mental health field. Take Elyn Saks (The Center Cannot Hold), now a law school professor and Esmé Weijun Wang (The Collected), a critically acclaimed creative writer. However, some are not as lucky. Marin Sardy (The Edge of Every Day) describes her brother’s suicide in poignant detail. Ron Powers, author of No One Cares About Crazy People, explains that his son, Kevin, suffered the same fate. In writing this article, I didn’t want to paint the devastation of schizophrenia with a rosy gloss—people with schizophrenia do kill themselves, commit murder, end up homeless—rather, I wanted to give a well-rounded portrait of what the disease can look like. Even in Sardy’s and Powers’ texts, where their loved ones don’t survive their illnesses, the authors describe their relatives as three-dimensional beings: people with kindness, talents, experiences and successes apart from their illnesses, things we forget to think about when we think about people with schizophrenia.