Alone Together
Love, Grief, and Comfort in the Time of COVID-19
-
- $12.99
-
- $12.99
Publisher Description
"Could there be a timelier gift to quarantined readers...? I doubt it."—The Washington Post
"A heartening gathering of writers joining forces for community support."—Kirkus Reviews
"Connects writers, readers, and booksellers in a wonderfully imaginative way. It's a really good book for a really good cause"—Bestselling author James Patterson
ALONE TOGETHER: Love, Grief, and Comfort in the Time of COVID-19 is a collection of essays, poems, and interviews to serve as a lifeline for negotiating how to connect and thrive during this stressful time of isolation as well as a historical perspective that will remain relevant for years to come.
All contributing authors and business partners are donating their share to The Book Industry Charitable Foundation (Binc), a nonprofit organization that coordinates charitable programs to strengthen the bookselling community.
The roster of diverse voices includes Faith Adiele, Kwame Alexander, Jenna Blum, Andre Dubus III, Jamie Ford, Nikki Giovanni, Pam Houston, Jean Kwok, Major Jackson, Devi S. Laskar, Caroline Leavitt, Ada Limón, Dani Shapiro, David Sheff, Garth Stein, Luis Alberto Urrea, Steve Yarbrough, and Lidia Yuknavitch.
The overarching theme is how this age of isolation and uncertainty is changing us as individuals and a society.
"Alone Together showcases the human desire to grieve, explore, comfort, connect, and simply sit with the world as it weathers the pandemic. Jennifer Haupt's timely and moving anthology also benefits the Book Industry Charitable Foundation, making it a project that is noble in both word and deed."—Ann Patchett, Bestselling author, bookseller, and Co-Ambassador for The Book Industry Charitable Foundation
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Haupt (In the Shadow of 10,000 Hills) convened scores of her fellow writers for this remarkable anthology of responses to the Covid-19 pandemic. It addresses the lockdown from a range of experiences, perspectives, and formats, including poems, essays, and interviews, with some writers considering how to retain a sense of control over one's own life, and others how to maintain a feeling of connection to others. In the poem "At Times Like This," Nikki Giovanni asserts that, while grieving for those lost in the pandemic, "We measure our words/ Because we are/ Measuring a life," and Devi S. Laskar's "State of the Art, State of the Union" states that "Poetry in wartime is a luxury" and "a necessity." Lisa Haines's essay considers masks and asks "if we will ever see expressions again," while Andrea King Collier finds comfort in the familiar ritual of grocery shopping ("the only thing I have control over"). Paulette Perhach reflects on bodily intimacy with her sensuous essay, "Skin," while Sommer Browning and David Shields model remote intimacy with their playfully risqu message thread from a shared virtual viewing of Eyes Wide Shut. Anyone who has weathered the past few months will find something in here that speaks to them.
