{"product_id":"9781555977757","title":"Sometimes I Think About It : Essays","description":"\u003cstrong\u003eSometimes I Think About It\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor(s): Stephen Elliott\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAn essay collection by a writer who “may be writing under . . . the influence of genius” (\u003ci\u003eVanity Fair\u003c\/i\u003e)\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eSometimes I Think About It\u003c\/i\u003e, Stephen Elliott gathers personal  essays, reportage, and profiles written over fifteen years to tell a  powerful story about outsiders and underdogs.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMoving from  the self to the civic, the book begins with a series of essays that  trace Elliott’s childhood with an abusive and erratic father, his life  on the streets as a teenager, and his growing interest in cross-dressing  and masochism. These stories, which range from a comic portrait of a  week spent hosting his younger brother to a brutal depiction of  depression, provide a context for the essays that follow.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eStepping out into the world, Elliott tells of a man who loses his  family in a rock slide in Southern California, explores the vexing  realities of life in Palestine, and paints a chilling picture of a young  man caught in the prison-industrial complex. The last section, “The  Business of America Is Business,” shows Elliott’s abiding interest in  the spectacle of money in America, from pop music to pornography to  publishing, and it concludes with an off-kilter account of the tech  industry’s assault on West Los Angeles.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBuilding on the extraordinary storytelling that characterized his breakout book, \u003ci\u003eThe Adderall Diaries\u003c\/i\u003e,  Elliott’s search for dignity and happiness leads him to tell with great  sympathy the stories of those who are broken and seek to be whole.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eReview(s):\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Stephen Elliott grounds each entry in an authentic, down-to-earth voice that conveys the pain of being human and moribund. . . . \u003ci\u003eSometimes I Think About It\u003c\/i\u003e is dark, ruminative and piercing. At his best, Elliott depicts how tragedy and pain can actually bring people together.”\u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003eShelf Awareness\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“I love these essays so hard I want to chew on them. For the bite of it. Stephen Elliott has the uncanny ability to go out into the culture and locate a self set loose from consumer culture and money identity. When it comes to outsider bodies and lives and stories, Stephen Elliott is there to remind us that the edges are where our cultural shape comes from. Without the edges, the center doesn't even exist. \u003ci\u003eSometimes I Think About It \u003c\/i\u003eis an outsider tour de force.”\u003cb\u003e—Lidia Yuknavitch\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eISBN:  9781555977757\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e ","brand":"Graywolf Press","offers":[{"title":"Paperback \/ softback","offer_id":40667493269710,"sku":"9781555977757","price":16.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0600\/7029\/7806\/products\/getimage_b6518d6f-15a6-48a4-a420-01195a46c9e7.jpg?v=1639712068","url":"https:\/\/pickwickbookshop.com\/products\/9781555977757","provider":"Pickwick Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}