It’s not anyone who could bare their soul as eloquently as Vanasco. I loved Jeannie’s forays into mental illness, not because I wish it on anyone, but because Vanasco handles it with such raw authenticity. Told in a slightly fragmented series of vignettes, THE GLASS EYE reminded me a lot of the style and structure used in Rachel Khong’s GOODBYE VITAMIN (Henry Holt, 2017). This wasn’t exactly the book she had in mind, but it’s the one she wrote to better understand herself, her mental illness, her relationship with her dad. They had four daughters, one of those daughters died in a horrific car accident when she was only 16.Īll along, Jeannie has made a promise to someday write a book for her father. Years ago, Jeannie’s father was married to someone else. Jeannie becomes obsessed with her father’s death, but also a dead half-sister who shares her name. It’s this catastrophic event that sends her into a spiraling tailspin, triggering her mental illness. Jeannie Vanasco’s father died when she was an 18-year old college freshman. When I came across a write-up of THE GLASS EYE: A Memoir, in a recent issue of POETS & WRITERS, I knew I had to read it. By Leslie Lindsay A dark and gripping memoir about the intricacies of grief, obsession, madness, and more.
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