“Memory, in short, is engraved not merely by the life we have led but by the life of the mind…by all the lives we so nearly led but missed by an inch, and—if we grant enough leeway to the imagination—by the lives of others, which can cut into ours every bit as sharply as our own experience.” – Anthony Lane, writing about W.G. Sebald in The New Yorker (May 29, 2000)
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Tag Archives: reading
Memory—my mom’s story of motherhood & Joe Queenan on books (beautiful books)!
I want to share the wonderful review my mom (Joanne S. Frye) received this week from Literary Mama (great site for lovers of writing/reading) for her memoir Biting the Moon: A Memoir of Feminism and Motherhood. Check out the review … Continue reading
How shy are you? – Some thoughts on thoughtfulness
These past weeks I have been mulling over the need for solitude. Why do we need it? When do we need it? Does everyone need it? What do we even mean by solitude? What do I mean? Sometimes we stumble … Continue reading
Posted in Grief & grieving, Memoir, Memory, Motherhood, Suicide, Writing & Reading
Tagged dyslexia, Hanif Kureishi, introvert, Judith Warner, Memorial Day, parenting, reading, Ritalin, shyness, solitude, Susan Cain, writing
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Mysteries of childhood—avid reader, cannot read
Here I am, back on blog, a worried mother twisting her memory to remember what happened when in her young son’s life. Where does the trail begin, if I want to understand what he is struggling with now? Words are … Continue reading
Thoughts on reading, breathing, writing & grief
Barnes and Noble has demoted its literary journals, shifting them further in and narrowing their shelf space, during my recent period of inattention. Of course these facts are unrelated: my distraction—consumption—by family life and my local B&N’s shelf make-over. Yet, … Continue reading
Posted in Memory, Motherhood, Suicide, Writing & Reading
Tagged Aleksandar Hemon, grief, memory, motherhood, Rachel Cusk, reading, suicide, ulnar nerve, VIDA, women writers, writing
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Hollywood and the army base, and bipolar realities
On the one hand, we have Catherine Zeta-Jones checking into an exclusive mental-health facility, diagnosed with bipolar II disorder within five days, and less than a month after that adorning the cover of People magazine. On the other, we find … Continue reading
Posted in Memory, Suicide, War, Writing & Reading
Tagged Andrew Solomon, army wives, bipolar disorder, Catherine Zeta-Jones, depression, Jennifer Egan, Jessica Harp, Kay Redfield Jamison, memory, military, post-traumatic stress disorder, reading, Styron, suicide attempt, suicide notes, The Noonday Demon
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Ulnar-nerved Mama—when you want to be a superhero
Here I am at the computer, wondering whether the internet, particularly its subset, or offspring, known as the blog, should be classified as heavy machinery, which I’ve been warned to refrain from using. The doctor seems to think I can … Continue reading
Posted in Memory, Motherhood, Suicide, Writing & Reading
Tagged depression, medical, memory, motherhood, reading, suicide, superheroes, ulnar nerve, writing
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What Cynthia Ozick said to me—and a few other things
So, the hours I was supposed to spend yesterday morning revising yesterday’s (that is today’s) blog post, I ended up passing at the Hospital for Joint Diseases. No, nothing serious. At least that’s how I prefer to think about loss … Continue reading
Posted in Memory, Suicide, War, Writing & Reading
Tagged Cynthia Ozick, memory, National Arts Club, post-traumatic stress disorder, reading, suicide, ulnar nerve, VIDA, women writers, World War II, writing
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The abandoned self, the integrated one – but isn’t homophobia gone?
I am a believer in coincidence. (See last week’s post, Synchronicity: coincidence, literature, & suicide, or A brain of one’s own.) By which I mean that life is filled with funny details that make patterns or bring things together—sometimes literally, … Continue reading
Posted in Memory, Motherhood, Writing & Reading
Tagged coincidence, Gili Warsett, homophobia, LGBT, memory, Modern Love, motherhood, reading, The Anatomy of a Breakup
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Memory as moving target
Memory is intrusive. And I am constantly surprised by it. Even the bad memories, perhaps especially the bad ones, are interesting. Brain food. As you’ve read here before, I think of memory as a frequency (a channel), something we have … Continue reading
Posted in COUNTRIES OF LOST THINGS, Memory, Russia, Suicide, Writing & Reading
Tagged Countries of Lost Things, divorce, memory, reading, suicide, writing
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