Drawing Breath

The prose is precise and rhythmic as Brandeis keenly portrays her emotions...captivating from the start, this evokes the universal from the intimately specific. --Publisher's Weekly Every woman has been warned, at some point in her life, to never show certain parts of herself or to share the troubles of her life. We often silence what churns within us and suffer the shaming of our minds, our bodies. Gayle Brandeis writes brilliantly and beautifully about what is hidden. From writing on the cardboard inserts of her father's dry-cleaning shirts at four to writing a memoir in her forties, we follow the ma of her (writing) life through states of mental and physical illness; we recognize the mysteries and the powers of the body; we celebrate the unexpected storms of desire in midlife; and we find joy. This biblio-essay collection is a joy! Brandeis lifts up a diverse group of women writers by setting their words alongside her own, creating a chorus of women giving voice to silenced stories. I devoured this book. -- Jill Talbot, author of The Way We Weren't: A Memoir In Drawing Breath, Gayle Brandeis writes that she wants her last words to be 'I love you.' In a very real way, this collection of essays is Brandeis' love letter to the world. The writing is powerful yet tender, ferocious yet kind, and always grounded in the body. Brandeis writes with a fierce elegance about her mother's mental illness and suicide, her father's dementia, her own reckoning with body issues, female desire and shame, and a body suffering from long-haul COVID. Drawing Breath is a necessary salve to our tumultuous times. When I read the last word of this book, I wanted to turn immediately to the first page and begin again. --Suzanne Roberts, author of Animal Bodies: On Death, Desire, and Other Difficulties In Drawing Breath, Brandeis reminds us of the strength and fragility of the invisible--our own breath, our hauntings and our haunted, and our relationship with our own art. The brilliance of this collection lies in its vulnerability and willingness to trust the unseen and to guide the reader safely to and through it. This book will remind you of your secret self--the one that has been waiting to be brought back from the shadows into the light--the one that will always see you safely home. - Laraine Herring, author of A Constellation of Ghosts: A Speculative Memoir with Ravens Inspire means, literally, 'to breathe in.' Drawing Breath, Gayle Brandeis's brilliant new collection of essays, draws inspiration from form--form of the body, form on the page. The result is a compelling, one-of-a-kind pastiche: survey results, a film transcription, the history of a perfume, an exploration into the choral voice, an interview with the self. Drawing Breath is both intimate and inventive, deeply personal and culturally relevant. This book, in a word, is breathtaking. --Maggie Smith, author of Goldenrod