Amy Fusselman - 8: A Memoir May 7, 2007

Amy Fusselman celebrates the release of 8: A Memoir, published by Counterpoint Press

Monday, May 7th, 2007, 7 pm @ City Lights Bookstore

Amy Fusselman’s debut, The Pharmacist’s Wife, was published by McSweeny’s to rave reviews and launched her “delicate condition” tour when she was seven months pregnant in 2001. Now a new parent twice over, Fusselman chronicles marriage, motherhood, and the struggle to heal the old wounds of childhood abuse in 8: A Memoir .

Whether describing a cab ride or paraphrasing The Beastie Boys’ “Ch-Check it Out”, Fusselman’s elliptical style is immensely moving. Looping past and present together Fusselman returns to some subjects as she lets others go, retracing her life like the figure-eights of childhood skating lessons. From sleep training her son to the awful intimacy of childhood abuse, each subject offers fresh truth and the opportunity to heal. Full of Fusselman’s trademark sense of wonder, 8 also addresses monster trucks, motorcycling, robots, the nature of time, New York City, and, of course, figure skating and Oksana Baiul, the “Olympic figure skating/drunk-driver/platinum-blond hellion” as Fusselman refers to her.

Alternately heartbreaking, disturbing, and hilarious, 8 invites readers into Fusselman’s world, a place both strange and wonderful. Dark at moments but ultimately filled with hope, 8 reminds us that we are more powerful than we think.

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