“A ravishingly strange and gorgeous book about a dog that’s really about life and everything there is.” Helen Macdonald, New York Times bestselling author
Description
Prolific and widely renowned, Eileen Myles is a trailblazer whose decades of literary and artistic work “set a bar for openness, frankness, and variability few lives could ever match” (New York Review of Books). This newest book paints a kaleidoscopic portrait of a beloved confidant: the pit bull called Rosie.
In 1990, Myles chose Rosie from a litter on the street, and their connection instantly became central to the writer’s life and work. During the course of their sixteen years together, Myles was madly devoted to the dog’s well-being, especially in her final days. Starting from the emptiness following Rosie’s death, Afterglow launches a heartfelt and fabulist investigation into the true nature of the bond between pet and pet owner. Through this lens, we witness Myles’ experiences with intimacy and spirituality, celebrity and politics, alcoholism and recovery, fathers and family history, as well as the fantastical myths we spin to get to the heart of grief.
Moving from an imaginary talk show where Rosie is interviewed by Myles’ childhood puppet to a critical reenactment of the night Rosie mated with another pit bull, from lyrical transcriptions of their walks to Rosie’s enlightened narration from the afterlife, Afterglow illuminates all that it can mean when we dedicate our existence to a dog.
Praise
“A ravishingly strange and gorgeous book about a dog that’s really about life and everything there is.” Helen Macdonald, New York Times bestselling author
“Part elegy, part meditation, part performance art…poignant, sweeping.” O, The Oprah Magazine
"[A] sincere elegiac reflection on a life shared with another being.” Vice
“The universal theme of attachment shines through.” Portland Press Herald
“A punk devotional, shot through with a sort of divine attention to material reality and a poet’s associative leaps.” New Yorker
Details
| Language | English |
|---|---|
| Release Day | Dec 4, 2017 |
| Release Date | December 5, 2017 |
| Release Date Machine | 1512432000 |
| Imprint | Blackstone Publishing |
| Provider | Blackstone Publishing |
| Categories | Biographies & Memoirs, Home & Garden, Pets & Animal Care, Nonfiction - Adult, Nonfiction - All |
Author Bio
Eileen Myles is the author of more than twenty volumes of poetry, fiction, nonfiction, libretti, plays, and performance pieces over the last three decades. Their books include Chelsea Girls and I Must Be Living Twice: New & Selected Poems 1975–2014. Their many honors include a Guggenheim Fellowship in nonfiction, an Andy Warhol/Creative Capital Art Writers’ Grant, a Lambda Book Award, the Clark Prize for Excellence in Art Writing, and the Shelley Prize from the Poetry Society of America. They teach at New York University and Naropa University.
Narrator Bio
Eileen Myles is the author of more than twenty volumes of poetry, fiction, nonfiction, libretti, plays, and performance pieces over the last three decades. Their books include Chelsea Girls and I Must Be Living Twice: New & Selected Poems 1975–2014. Their many honors include a Guggenheim Fellowship in nonfiction, an Andy Warhol/Creative Capital Art Writers’ Grant, a Lambda Book Award, the Clark Prize for Excellence in Art Writing, and the Shelley Prize from the Poetry Society of America. They teach at New York University and Naropa University.
Overview
Prolific and widely renowned, Eileen Myles is a trailblazer whose decades of literary and artistic work “set a bar for openness, frankness, and variability few lives could ever match” (New York Review of Books). This newest book paints a kaleidoscopic portrait of a beloved confidant: the pit bull called Rosie.
In 1990, Myles chose Rosie from a litter on the street, and their connection instantly became central to the writer’s life and work. During the course of their sixteen years together, Myles was madly devoted to the dog’s well-being, especially in her final days. Starting from the emptiness following Rosie’s death, Afterglow launches a heartfelt and fabulist investigation into the true nature of the bond between pet and pet owner. Through this lens, we witness Myles’ experiences with intimacy and spirituality, celebrity and politics, alcoholism and recovery, fathers and family history, as well as the fantastical myths we spin to get to the heart of grief.
Moving from an imaginary talk show where Rosie is interviewed by Myles’ childhood puppet to a critical reenactment of the night Rosie mated with another pit bull, from lyrical transcriptions of their walks to Rosie’s enlightened narration from the afterlife, Afterglow illuminates all that it can mean when we dedicate our existence to a dog.
Reviews
Write Your Own Review