I love experimental forms, so I was hooked the minute I saw the flow chart at the beginning of the book. Similarly exciting to me, was the chapter “BeI love experimental forms, so I was hooked the minute I saw the flow chart at the beginning of the book. Similarly exciting to me, was the chapter “Between Seams,” which is written in the form of a poem, the lines mimicking the cracks in the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem, where Jews push slips of paper into the cracks with their prayers written on them. In this way Lang is using the form as an active element of her narrative. Similarly, in her chapter entitled “Distort,” her enjambed lines give the feeling of distortion, allowing the reader one step closer to the writer’s interior.
Lang uses lists, diagrams, strike-through font, and footnotes in her as her collection alternates between micro-essays and poetry, keeping me engaged and slightly off-balance. But although her essays are brief, they are vibrant, containing enough physical description so that I could picture her homes in the various locations, and with lyrical description of the narrator’s interior, such as, “The next day, while packing, we fold our anger into the creases of our shirts and tuck it into the hems of our pants, making our suitcases overweight.”
Wonderful book—probably the most spiritually important/inspiring book I've read in a decade. Wonderful book—probably the most spiritually important/inspiring book I've read in a decade. ...more