{"product_id":"9781632866578","title":"Abandon Me : Memoirs","description":"\u003cstrong\u003eAbandon Me\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor(s): Melissa Febos\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eNamed One of the Best Books of 2017 by:\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eEsquire\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eRefinery29\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eLitHub\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eBookRiot\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eMedium, Electric Literature, \u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Brooklyn Rail, Vol. 1 Brooklyn, Largehearted Boy\u003c\/i\u003e,\u003ci\u003e The Coil\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Cut\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWinner of the Lambda Literary Jeanne Cordova Prize for Lesbian\/Queer Nonfiction\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFinalist, Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Memoir\/Biography\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFinalist, Publishing Triangle’s Judy Grahn Award for Lesbian Nonfiction\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAn Indie Next Pick\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFor readers of Maggie Nelson and Leslie Jamison, a fierce and dazzling personal narrative that explores the many ways identity and art are shaped by love and loss.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn her critically acclaimed memoir, \u003ci\u003eWhip Smart\u003c\/i\u003e, Melissa Febos laid bare the intimate world of the professional dominatrix, turning an honest examination of her life into a lyrical study of power, desire, and fulfillment. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn her dazzling \u003ci\u003eAbandon Me\u003c\/i\u003e, Febos captures the intense bonds of love and the need for connection -- with family, lovers, and oneself. First, her birth father, who left her with only an inheritance of addiction and Native American blood, its meaning a mystery. As Febos tentatively reconnects, she sees how both these lineages manifest in her own life, marked by compulsion and an instinct for self-erasure. Meanwhile, she remains closely tied to the sea captain who raised her, his parenting ardent but intermittent as his work took him away for months at a time. Woven throughout is the hypnotic story of an all-consuming, long-distance love affair with a woman, marked equally by worship and withdrawal. In visceral, erotic prose, Febos captures their mutual abandonment to passion and obsession -- and the terror and exhilaration of losing herself in another. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAt once a fearlessly vulnerable memoir and an incisive investigation of art, love, and identity, \u003ci\u003eAbandon Me \u003c\/i\u003edraws on childhood stories, religion, psychology, mythology, popular culture, and the intimacies of one writer’s life to reveal intellectual and emotional truths that feel startlingly universal.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eReview(s):\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"[A] bold collection . . . The sheer fearlessness of the narrative is captivating.\" - \u003ci\u003eThe New Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Anyone who's read Febos . . . knows that her work explores boundaries as deftly as it defies categorization. In this new collection of essays, she once again \u003cb\u003eobliterates convention with her erotically charged and intellectually astute recollections\u003c\/b\u003e of family, relationships and the search for identity.\" - \u003ci\u003eEsquire.com, “The Best Books of 2017 (So Far)\"\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"\u003cb\u003eHer mastery over metaphor is astonishing\u003c\/b\u003e . . . What might be mere navel-gazing for a less brilliant author is made powerfully universal here. Though the particulars are hers, just about anyone can relate to the feeling of a chasm opening up inside. Febos’s awakening to her full identity, even its ugliness, is \u003cb\u003ea powerful and redemptive epic\u003c\/b\u003e.\" - starred review, \u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"No subject is off-limits to Febos. She authorizes her reader to be braver, to dig deeper into their own secrets and to research those secrets in history . . . In her close reading and recording of her own life, Febos universalizes the pain of waiting . . . with each new piece Febos bends time.\" -\u003ci\u003e The Rumpus\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"\u003cb\u003eErotic and dark\u003c\/b\u003e, the book is \u003cb\u003ea courageous exploration of love\u003c\/b\u003e as the ultimate form of plenitude and annihilation. \u003cb\u003eA lyrically visceral\u003c\/b\u003e memoir of love and loss.\" - \u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"It’s easy to fall in love with Melissa Febos' gorgeous new memoir of short essays. Febos brings a \u003cb\u003erelentless curiosity and startling intimacy\u003c\/b\u003e to the page . . . With her careful observations and introspection, she transcends isolation and captures the boundless nature of human emotion. \u003ci\u003eAbandon Me\u003c\/i\u003e is \u003cb\u003ea fierce exploration of love and obsession\u003c\/b\u003e, but it is something else as well--the story of woman who is unafraid to explore the harsh truths and choices that shape our lives.\" - \u003ci\u003eLAMBDA Literary\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Febos's gifts as a writer seemingly increase with the types of subjects and themes that typically falter in the hands of many memoirists . . . \u003cb\u003eFebos transports, but her lyricism is always grounded in the now, in the sweet music of loss.\u003c\/b\u003e\" - \u003ci\u003eThe Millions\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"\u003cb\u003eSearing and eye-opening\u003c\/b\u003e at every turn . . . a must-read.\" - \u003ci\u003eThe Huffington Post, “27 Nonfiction Books By Women Everyone Should Read This Year”\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Riveting . . . emotionally raw and stirring in a way that will have you aching for more.\" - \u003ci\u003eNewsweek, \"Best New Books of the Week\"\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Intimate and mesmerizingly vulnerable, \u003ci\u003eAbandon Me\u003c\/i\u003e is a boo[k] that gets at the heart of who we love, how we love--and why.\" - \u003ci\u003eRefinery29, \"Best Reads of February\"\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Febos has established herself as a gifted writer with deep reserves of empathy and a bottomless hunger for personal truth. . . . Her prose is exciting and inviting because it feels both raw and lived in.\" - \u003ci\u003eGuernica\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Febos complicates the human desire for connection with explorations in philosophy, psychology, and accounts of historical repression that seduce readers into inhabiting her myths while resisting sentimentality by dismantling the fictions with deft intellectual probing reminiscent of the work of Maggie Nelson. . . . One of Febos's greatest literary strengths is her ability to make these intimate experiences feel universal.\" - \u003ci\u003eBomb Magazine\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"[In this] collection of \u003cb\u003eself-aware, stylish\u003c\/b\u003e, autobiographical essays on love, addiction, and inheritance, Febos harnesses language, moods, actions, and settings with precision. A professor of creative writing, \u003cb\u003eshe stuns with sentences that are a credit to her craft\u003c\/b\u003e and will no doubt inspire her readers.\" - \u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"\u003ci\u003eAbandon Me\u003c\/i\u003e is a \u003cb\u003ebeautifully written journey\u003c\/b\u003e through Febos' world.\" - \u003ci\u003eBuzzfeed\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"\u003ci\u003eAbandon Me\u003c\/i\u003e proves unequivocally that there must be room in the literary canon for the complexity of women's stories on erotic fixation and loss.\" - \u003ci\u003eBitch Magazine\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"It's rare to read a book \u003cb\u003eas generous as it is genius\u003c\/b\u003e. Febos intimately explores addiction, pain, pleasure, the uncontrollable character and the strangely joyful and terrifying nuances of abandonment. I don't know that I've ever felt more thankful to read a book. \u003ci\u003eAbandon Me\u003c\/i\u003e found me when I most needed it.\" - Kiese Laymon, author of HOW TO SLOWLY KILL YOURSELF AND OTHERS IN AMERICA\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"An \u003cb\u003eintricately constructed and emotionally devastating\u003c\/b\u003e book about the appearance and disappearance of love. Febos is a strikingly talented writer who pushes at the boundaries of her form and shows us just how amazing and expansive it can be.\" - Jenny Offill, author of DEPT. OF SPECULATION\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLong-listed Esquire Magazine Best Books of the Year (2017)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eISBN:  9781632866578\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e ","brand":"Bloomsbury USA","offers":[{"title":"Hardback","offer_id":40597232386254,"sku":"9781632866578","price":26.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0600\/7029\/7806\/products\/getimage_2aaae81c-b04d-4a81-8298-28fd44dbbba4.jpg?v=1637874906","url":"https:\/\/pickwickbookshop.com\/products\/9781632866578","provider":"Pickwick Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}