Here, shes a bare-it-all memoirist, an astute critic, and a diligent archivist all in one.
Yet her method is holistic; she carefully guides her reader with an understated grace.
While Jamison dissects her lifelong battle with alcoholism, she doesnt merely unpack her history.
Credit: Beowulf Sheehan
Their stories fed Jamison.
Its here that the author first demonstrated her exceptional ability to interweave different forms of analysis.
Its underpinnings were personal, but the book felt rigorous, academic.
Little, Brown and Company
WithThe Recovering, Jamison still articulates a clear, compelling mission.
Theres no straight line between rock bottom and sobriety, no inevitable bumps to overcome.
These arguments, fortunately, tend to be plenty persuasive.
The book is sharper thanEmpathy, and soars above it on the strength of Jamisons command.
It all comes down to a balance of storytelling.
Our stories were valuable because of this redundancy, not despite it.
Originality wasnt the ideal, and beauty wasnt the point.
But her synthesis of memoir, criticism, and historical analysis is still unshakable, even encompassing.
