Distributed for CavanKerry Press
History Is Embarrassing
A collection of essays full of startling directness, fearlessness, and surprise.
Filled with profound reflections and snapshots from the past, Karen Chase’s History is Embarrassing weaves together threads from one single life—a girl suffering from polio, a poet, a Jewish woman, a writer, and a painter. Like Chase, the characters who populate these essays are outsiders—undercover cops, a gay couple in 1500s India, bear poachers, psychiatric patients, and even a president—each a meaningful part of history. Divided into three parts—histories, pleasures, and horrors—History is Embarrassing is an assortment of thought-provoking essays that are sure to resonate with many readers.
Filled with profound reflections and snapshots from the past, Karen Chase’s History is Embarrassing weaves together threads from one single life—a girl suffering from polio, a poet, a Jewish woman, a writer, and a painter. Like Chase, the characters who populate these essays are outsiders—undercover cops, a gay couple in 1500s India, bear poachers, psychiatric patients, and even a president—each a meaningful part of history. Divided into three parts—histories, pleasures, and horrors—History is Embarrassing is an assortment of thought-provoking essays that are sure to resonate with many readers.
Reviews
Table of Contents
Preface
ONE: HISTORIES
Boom: A Vaccine Story
Polio Boulevard
Ship Ahoy: FDR’s Houseboat Years
TWO: PLEASURES
Jamali Kamali Airborne in History
Hedgeballs and Rinkydinks
Artist Statements
A Poet’s Job on the Ward
THREE: HORRORS
Learning to Shoot
Befriend Only to Betray
Notes
Acknowledgments
ONE: HISTORIES
Boom: A Vaccine Story
Polio Boulevard
Ship Ahoy: FDR’s Houseboat Years
TWO: PLEASURES
Jamali Kamali Airborne in History
Hedgeballs and Rinkydinks
Artist Statements
A Poet’s Job on the Ward
THREE: HORRORS
Learning to Shoot
Befriend Only to Betray
Notes
Acknowledgments
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