Make It Scream, Make It Burn

June 3, 2019
These illuminating and ruminative essays from Jamison (The Recovering) explore obsession and alienation, combining reportage, memoir, and philosophy. The first (and most successful) section is largely focused outward, beginning with a profile of “52 Blue,” a blue whale with an extraordinarily high-pitched song who never found a mate, but did garner many human admirers who identified with his (perceived) loneliness. Jamison moves on to considering reincarnation, through uncanny cases of children seemingly remembering past lives, taking an approach “skeptical of knee-jerk skepticism itself.” In Part II, Jamison progresses into aesthetics and literary theory, discussing an exhibit of Civil War photography and James Agee’s sociological tome about Alabama tenant farmers, Let Us Now Praise Famous Men, which notably “documents the process of documentation itself.” Part III is decidedly more personal, as Jamison details struggles with intimacy and a series of doomed relationships, hitting a high note with her consideration of the evil stepmother archetype in the light of becoming a stepmother herself. Jamison is positively brilliant when penetrating a subject and unraveling its layers of meaning, such as how 52 Blue represents “not just one single whale as metaphor for loneliness, but metaphor itself as salve for loneliness.” Fans of the author’s unique brand of perceptiveness will be delighted. Agent: Jin Auh, Wylie.

March 1, 2020

Jamison (The Empathy Exams) reads her own work here, a collection of 14 essays categorized into "Longing," "Looking," and "Dwelling." The author writes about 52 Blue, a blue whale with a unique song who never found a mate, making him a symbol of longing and loneliness for the humans who knew about him. She writes extensively about the passionate devotees of the virtual world Second Life and how their online experiences compared with their "real" lives. A fascinating essay considers a white photographer who captured the same Mexican family for many years and the impossibility of maintaining journalistic distance when one has known the subjects for decades. There are no weak essays in this collection. Jamison is a compelling narrator. Her compassion, curiosity, and concerns are expressed in a thoughtful manner, inviting the listener to share the contemplations with the author. VERDICT The blend of journalism, autobiography, and criticism makes for a powerful whole; this audiobook is highly recommended.--B. Allison Gray, Goleta Valley Lib., CA

Copyright 2020 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.