Shame
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- $24.99
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- $24.99
Publisher Description
A kaleidoscopic sequence of autofictional narratives about identity, grief, and narrative itself.
Shame is a daring exploration of the potential and limits of memory and self. Here we meet Grant Maierhofer at various points within his life then, now, and in the future as he investigates the sense of shame that haunts the course of his days. The real and unreal, fact and fiction, blur together in a Kaufmanesque sequence of overlapping narratives about who we really are, how we cope with regret, and the repetitions of our behavior.
Through lists, fragments, recollections, and rants, the story of a son’s vexing grief for his father emerges. A sober addict trying to figure out how to navigate pleasure, diversion, and escape. A father trying to figure out marriage, children, maturity, and responsibility. A confused observer in a world constantly torn apart by media, politics, and aggression. A meditation on the nature of art, and art’s place in contemporary life.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Maierhofer (Drain Songs) explores shame, guilt, and death in this impassioned if uneven essayistic collection. The numbered entries (81 in total) begin with Maierhofer's childhood in Wisconsin, spent medicated for ADHD in a basement watching movies which seemed, in hindsight, "a form of trance that I think I've been seeking since." The fragmentary entries progress to his adulthood, as he wrestles with his obsessive-compulsive disorder, his father's death, and a curative stint in rehab for alcoholism and drug addiction. Alternately raw, fiery, poetic, and sentimental, the author's takes can also show levity, as when describing tender moments with his wife and admitting that "for all my mental rot and roiling I can be very traditional." Most often, however, disturbing situations emerge, particularly when Maierhofer describes inexplicably slicing off his pinky finger or dropping a red-hot charcoal briquette into his mouth. Others are self-indulgent pieces in which the author lists things he hates. While these feel performative, others offer glimpses into the murky depths of grief and depression. Though it's unwieldy on the whole, when Maierhofer's cathartic ruminations hit, they hit hard.
