{"product_id":"9780374538347","title":"The Unreality of Memory : And Other Essays","description":"\u003cstrong\u003eThe Unreality of Memory\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor(s): Elisa Gabbert\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"Terror, disaster, memory, selfhood, happiness . . . leave it to a poet to tackle the unthinkable so wisely and so wittily.\"* A literary guide to life in the pre-apocalypse, \u003ci\u003eThe Unreality of Memory \u003c\/i\u003ecollects profound and prophetic essays on the Internet age’s media-saturated disaster coverage and our addiction to viewing and discussing the world’s ills.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWe stare at our phones. We keep multiple tabs open. Our chats and conversations are full of the phrase “Did you see?” The feeling that we’re living in the worst of times seems to be intensifying, alongside a desire to know precisely how bad things have gotten—and each new catastrophe distracts us from the last.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Unreality of Memory\u003c\/i\u003e collects provocative, searching essays on disaster culture, climate anxiety, and our mounting collective sense of doom. In this new collection, acclaimed poet and essayist Elisa Gabbert explores our obsessions with disasters past and future, from the sinking of the \u003ci\u003eTitanic \u003c\/i\u003eto Chernobyl, from witch hunts to the plague. These deeply researched, prophetic meditations question how the world will end—if indeed it will—and why we can’t stop fantasizing about it. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCan we avoid repeating history? Can we understand our moment from inside the moment? With \u003ci\u003eThe Unreality of Memory\u003c\/i\u003e, Gabbert offers a hauntingly perceptive analysis of our new ways of being and a means of reconciling ourselves to this unreal new world.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"A work of sheer brilliance, beauty and bravery.” *—Andrew Sean Greer, author of \u003ci\u003eLess\u003c\/i\u003e    \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eReview(s):\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eFinalist for the Colorado Book Award for Creative Nonfiction\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eHuffPost's 10 Best Books of 2020\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eElectric Literature's Favorite Nonfiction Books of 2020\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Gabbert draws \u003cb\u003emasterly\u003c\/b\u003e portraits of the precise, uncanny affects that govern our psychological relationship to calamity . . . Even more impressive is her skill at bending crisp, clear language into shapes that illustrate the shifting logic of the disastrous, keeping the reader oriented amid continual upheaval . . . \u003cb\u003eThe essays often seem uncannily to anticipate circumstances that the author simply couldn’t have known about: They have a clarity and prescience that imply a sort of distant, retrospective view, like postcards sent from the near future\u003c\/b\u003e.” —\u003cb\u003eAlexandra Kleeman, \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“\u003cb\u003eNimble \u003c\/b\u003e. . . \u003cb\u003eGabbert studies our atomized and vulnerable capacity for perception with whetted eloquence\u003c\/b\u003e: Her essays, \u003cb\u003evigorous in their intellectual pursuit\u003c\/b\u003e, travel across vast and varied territory . . . but never at the expense of thematic cohesion. Cumulatively,\u003cb\u003e this work lays bare the intractable chasm between what we fear and what we understand\u003c\/b\u003e. How we look at disasters and how we commit them to memory reveal our fettered perception, and by extension, the fickle, mutable edges of our empathy.” —\u003cb\u003eRachel Vorona Cote, \u003ci\u003eThe Nation\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Gabbert’s wide-ranging essays span history, scholarship, pop culture, and literature with both nuance and incisiveness. They’re \u003cb\u003ethe kind of essays that don’t only teach you things, they leave you thinking harder and deeper \u003c\/b\u003eabout what it means to live in this world.\" \u003cb\u003e—Lincoln Michel, \u003ci\u003eBOMB\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“\u003cb\u003eAbsolutely stunning\u003c\/b\u003e . . . [Gabbert] peers behind the curtains of mortality and time to explore the ways that memory and story either lull us into complacency about moral evil or allow us to embrace impending death . . . \u003ci\u003eThe Unreality of Memory \u003c\/i\u003eis \u003cb\u003ea book for our times\u003c\/b\u003e.” —\u003cb\u003eHenry L. Carrigan Jr.,\u003ci\u003e BookPage\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Elisa Gabbert’s \u003ci\u003eThe Unreality of Memory \u003c\/i\u003eis \u003cb\u003eone of those joyful books that send you to your notebook every page or so, desperate not to lose either the thought the author has deftly placed in your mind or the title of a work she has now compelled you to read.\u003c\/b\u003e The essays encompass sickness and trauma, anesthesia and memory, politics and political apathy, but owing to the force of Gabbert’s attention, the book remains determinedly cohesive. Written before COVID-19 altered all our lives so irretrievably, it is also a work of uncanny prescience.\" \u003cb\u003e—Robin Jones, \u003ci\u003eThe Paris Review \u003c\/i\u003e(staff pick)\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Gabbert’s essays feel \u003cb\u003eincredibly relevant\u003c\/b\u003e . . . In a culture where so many of us are hurting—spiritually, mentally, and physically—Gabbert’s words invite us to feel our pain . . . Just as a massage leaves us feeling sore but also better, her work \u003cb\u003echallenges us to see our collective suffering as one in which we have some personal responsibility\u003c\/b\u003e for addressing. . . It is almost chilling to read certain sections of the book . . . Gabbert brings the problems to our attention, acknowledges she’s in the same boat with us, and \u003cb\u003equietly challenges us to respond\u003c\/b\u003e.\" \u003cb\u003e—\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eLindsey Weishar, \u003ci\u003ePloughshares\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"\u003cb\u003eSearing . . . In shattering essays, Gabbert explores if and how and why certain threats register more than others, \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eand how even seemingly immutable facts are subject to spin from our imprecise recollections. \u003c\/b\u003eThere’s a chapter on pandemics, and yes, it is chilling.\" \u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003eVulture\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"\u003cb\u003eGabbert is that most valuable thing, a poet who is good at research; her details convince, and her style inveigles.\u003c\/b\u003e Succeeding pieces about Chernobyl, the Challenger and Columbia explosions, the shocking 2016 election, and other examples all reinforce her point—including her rather detailed anticipation of a viral pandemic.\" \u003cb\u003e—Phil Christman, \u003ci\u003ePlough\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e\"\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003eElisa Gabbert’s essays are always worth reading.\" \u003cb\u003e—\u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eLitHub\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Deeply contemplative but accessible . . . Whatever the chosen topic, Gabbert’s essays manage to be by turns \u003cb\u003epoetic, philosophical, and exhaustively researched. This is a superb collection.\u003c\/b\u003e\" \u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003ePublisher's Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"In her second collection of nonfiction, \u003cb\u003epoet Gabbert moves fluidly from disaster to dislocation to political upheaval, offering a kind of literary road map to our tumultuous era \u003c\/b\u003e. . . The idea here—as in all the essays in this nuanced book—is that consciousness is conditional, and we can understand ourselves only in pieces. \u003cb\u003eA fine collection from a poet who seems equally comfortable in prose.\u003c\/b\u003e\" \u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003eKirkus (starred)\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Provocative [and] searching . . . These \u003cb\u003edeeply researched, prophetic meditations question how the world will end\u003c\/b\u003e—if indeed it will—and why we can’t stop fantasizing about it.\" \u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003eThe Rumpus\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"If it seems that the world is falling apart, and you think you might be losing your mind, this book is here to reassure you: it is, and you are. \u003cb\u003eThere can be no better companion in these bewildering times than the crystalline mind of Elisa Gabbert\u003c\/b\u003e; she delivers the bad news with the ardor of an aria and the rigor of a clinical trial.\" \u003cb\u003e—J. Robert Lennon, author of \u003ci\u003eBroken River \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Amid impending disasters too vast even to be perceived, what can we do—cognitively, morally, and practically?\u003cb\u003e Gabbert, a tenacious researcher and a ruthless self-examiner, probes this ultimate abstraction in her essays, goes past wordless dread and comes up with enough reasoned consideration to lead us through\u003c\/b\u003e. Do you feel—and how can you not—as if your emotional endurance is exhausted by horrors already well underway? Then \u003cb\u003eyou should read this book.\u003c\/b\u003e\" \u003cb\u003e—Sarah Manguso, author of\u003ci\u003e The Guardians\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"\u003ci\u003eThe Unreality of Memory\u003c\/i\u003e fearlessly entertains taboo thoughts, but with the unaffected honesty of intimacy rather than the attention-seeking of a gadfly.\u003cb\u003e Gabbert has the magical ability to make an essay feel like a best-ever conversation with a best friend, the kind of conversation that changes the way you think about things forever. \u003c\/b\u003eWildly fun and casually brilliant, this book will make you feel happier while you're reading it and smarter once you finish.\" \u003cb\u003e—Sandra Newman, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Only Good Thing Anyone Has Ever Done\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Terror, disaster, memory, selfhood, happiness . . . \u003cb\u003eleave it to a poet to tackle the unthinkable so wisely and so wittily. A work of sheer brilliance, beauty and bravery.\u003c\/b\u003e” \u003cb\u003e—Andrew Sean Greer, author of \u003ci\u003eLess\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"\u003cb\u003eExamining disasters both man made and natural, Gabbert's essays perform a beautiful autopsy of our fears, showing us what it means to exist in a time of eternal apocalypse. \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Unreality of Memory\u003c\/i\u003e is \u003cb\u003ebreathtaking in its scope and thought and captivating prose\u003c\/b\u003e. This is a necessary and vital handbook for anyone experiencing the existential and not-so existential dread of everyday modern life.\" \u003cb\u003e—Lyz Lenz, author of \u003ci\u003eGod Land\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“This subtle, deft exploration of catastrophes—from Titanic and 9\/11 to climate change and the present disaster that is American politics—is \u003cb\u003eexactly the book we need in 2020. \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eElegantly structured and weirdly comforting, \u003ci\u003eThe Unreality of Memory \u003c\/i\u003ebrilliantly articulates our anxieties, fears, and wishes for destruction.\u003c\/b\u003e” \u003cb\u003e—Leigh Stein, author of \u003ci\u003eSelf Care\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“I want to say Elisa Gabbert is a writer’s writer, because of what I hope that implies about her command of the language, her subtle experimentation, her thought-provoking sentences about a surprising range of subjects. But then will only writers read this? So instead I’ll say\u003cb\u003e Elisa Gabbert is a writer everyone needs to read; her orderly, elegant essays are the perfect counterbalance to our current chaos culture.\u003c\/b\u003e” \u003cb\u003e—Amber Sparks, author of \u003ci\u003eAnd I Do Not Forgive You\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“\u003cb\u003eElisa Gabbert is one of my favorite writers, but how I wish her new book wasn’t so timely! I mean this as the highest praise: I had to go lie down in between essays.\u003c\/b\u003e” \u003cb\u003e—Austin Kleon, bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eSteal Like an Artist\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eISBN:  9780374538347\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e ","brand":"FSG Originals","offers":[{"title":"Paperback \/ softback","offer_id":40739422404814,"sku":"9780374538347","price":16.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0600\/7029\/7806\/products\/getimage_4bc77229-9cd0-49c6-a0a5-62fc3afd58a6.jpg?v=1641363654","url":"https:\/\/pickwickbookshop.com\/products\/9780374538347","provider":"Pickwick Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}