"If something interests me, whether it’s a piece of language or a family relationship or a cow, then I write about it. I never judge ahead of time. I never ask, Is this worth writing about?”
-- Lydia Davis
Kate Southwood has done something remarkable and ruthless by asking over and over in different ways and through a memorable cast of characters: Is it always better to survive?
“Few people can read this book and not feel like grabbing a pencil to start writing their own parallel versions . . . Even the smallest [remembrance] can exert a mysterious tug.”
-- Ron Padgett
The book’s central question: Under the influence of chronic pain and its associated medications and their side effects (e.g., brain fog), how does one follow through with a complex thought? A narrative? A life?
There is enough sadness for five families twice the size of theirs. Because that’s how life is, is what Thomas likes to remind us. Everything happens. One thing after another and then something else, and then another thing that overlaps with another. And you hope that you can live with it. Maybe even learn to like it.
