Alone Together: Love, Grief, and Comfort in the Time of COVID-19

Haupt (In the Shadow of 10,000 Hills) convened scores of her fellow writers for this remarkable anthology of responses to the Covid-19 pandemic. It addresses the lockdown from a range of experiences, perspectives, and formats, including poems, essays, and interviews, with some writers considering how to retain a sense of control over one's own life, and others how to maintain a feeling of connection to others. In the poem "At Times Like This," Nikki Giovanni asserts that, while grieving for those lost in the pandemic, "We measure our words/ Because we are/ Measuring a life," and Devi S. Laskar's "State of the Art, State of the Union" states that "Poetry in wartime is a luxury" and "a necessity." Lisa Haines's essay considers masks and asks "if we will ever see expressions again," while Andrea King Collier finds comfort in the familiar ritual of grocery shopping ("the only thing I have control over"). Paulette Perhach reflects on bodily intimacy with her sensuous essay, "Skin," while Sommer Browning and David Shields model remote intimacy with their playfully risqué message thread from a shared virtual viewing of Eyes Wide Shut. Anyone who has weathered the past few months will find something in here that speaks to them. Agent: Linda Migalti, Susan Schulman & Assoc. (Sept.)

As the COVID-19 pandemic rages worldwide, writers are speaking out about its impact. Benefiting independent booksellers, with profits going to the Book Industry Charitable Foundation (Binc), this anthology explores the pandemic experiences of 90 writers, providing a guide for negotiating the fear, isolation, grief, and exhaustion of this difficult time. Compiled by novelist and journalist Haupt (In the Shadow of 10,000 Hills), these poems, essays, and interviews by literary notables such as Kwame Alexander, Nikki Giovanni, Dani Shapiro, and Lidia Yuknavitch, along with those by lesser-known authors Eson Kim and Rebecca Mabanglo-Mayor, capture the pain everyone is experiencing. Yet underneath the devastation lies a current of interconnectedness and hope. In a time when even getting out of bed takes a conscious effort, positive messages can be transformative. For instance, Jennifer Rosner's essay Recipe for Connection tells of a 90-year-old mother and her daughter who talk nightly on the phone about what they will cook for dinner and look forward to when they can eat together again. Elsewhere, the experience of delivering provisions from a food bank, with its fleeting personal connections, brings comfort in the knowledge that one has helped, even if in a small way. VERDICT Among the first anthologies of its kind, this thoughtful and engaging compilation is recommended for readers seeking understanding and connection and a more empathetic and less materialistic post-COVID-19 world. [See the interview with the editor, "Writers Unite, Inspire Action," p. 72.]--Nancy R. Ives, State Univ. of New York at Geneseo

An anthology of poems, essays, interviews, and reflections inspired by the COVID-19 lockdown, with proceeds benefitting independent booksellers. During the pandemic, book tours have been cancelled, bookstores closed, and book deals delayed. What is the literary community to do? Write about it, of course, and try to find or make some meaning out of a period when everything seems so uncertain and unstable. Editor Haupt describes the book, which features contributions from "90 authors (68 in the print book and another 22 in the e-book edition)," as "this Lovely Monster," one that addresses "a vast, overwhelming question that became the pumping heart of this book: What Now?" Of course, there are plenty of mournful pieces concerning illness and death in pandemic isolation, but importantly, there's a sense that life goes on, reinforcing the spirit of interconnectedness as so many of us remain apart. "In telling our stories, we hope to enable you to tell your story," writes Haupt. "That's the sweet spot of connections, where the healing happens." Many of the essays find some consolation in the feelings of grace and emotions of tenderness we experience now that we're no longer living in what Luis Alberto Urrea describes as "our continual tantrum of consumption and aggression." In a hopeful interview with Haupt, Urrea describes those suffering through isolation as "yearning for our better selves, desperately dreaming of a kinder world in the days to come." The collection is diverse in age, race, and ethnicity, and gender perspective is a focus of many of the pieces, which offer informed speculation on the many ways that things will never be the same. In addition to some voices that may not be widely known, the book includes a smorgasbord of big names: Kwame Alexander, Nikki Giovanni, David Sheff, Lidia Yuknavitch, Dani Shapiro, Garth Stein, Andre Dubus III, Dinty Moore, and Ada Limón. A heartening gathering of writers joining forces for community support. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

As the COVID-19 pandemic rages worldwide, writers are speaking out about its impact. Benefiting independent booksellers, with profits going to the Book Industry Charitable Foundation (Binc), this anthology explores the pandemic experiences of 90 writers, providing a guide for negotiating the fear, isolation, grief, and exhaustion of this difficult time. Compiled by novelist and journalist Haupt (In the Shadow of 10,000 Hills), these poems, essays, and interviews by literary notables such as Kwame Alexander, Nikki Giovanni, Dani Shapiro, and Lidia Yuknavitch, along with those by lesser-known authors Eson Kim and Rebecca Mabanglo-Mayor, capture the pain everyone is experiencing. Yet underneath the devastation lies a current of interconnectedness and hope. In a time when even getting out of bed takes a conscious effort, positive messages can be transformative. For instance, Jennifer Rosner's essay Recipe for Connection tells of a 90-year-old mother and her daughter who talk nightly on the phone about what they will cook for dinner and look forward to when they can eat together again. Elsewhere, the experience of delivering provisions from a food bank, with its fleeting personal connections, brings comfort in the knowledge that one has helped, even if in a small way. VERDICT Among the first anthologies of its kind, this thoughtful and engaging compilation is recommended for readers seeking understanding and connection and a more empathetic and less materialistic post-COVID-19 world. [See the interview with the editor, "Writers Unite, Inspire Action," p. 72.]—Nancy R. Ives, State Univ. of New York at Geneseo

Haupt (In the Shadow of 10,000 Hills) convened scores of her fellow writers for this remarkable anthology of responses to the Covid-19 pandemic. It addresses the lockdown from a range of experiences, perspectives, and formats, including poems, essays, and interviews, with some writers considering how to retain a sense of control over one's own life, and others how to maintain a feeling of connection to others. In the poem "At Times Like This," Nikki Giovanni asserts that, while grieving for those lost in the pandemic, "We measure our words/ Because we are/ Measuring a life," and Devi S. Laskar's "State of the Art, State of the Union" states that "Poetry in wartime is a luxury" and "a necessity." Lisa Haines's essay considers masks and asks "if we will ever see expressions again," while Andrea King Collier finds comfort in the familiar ritual of grocery shopping ("the only thing I have control over"). Paulette Perhach reflects on bodily intimacy with her sensuous essay, "Skin," while Sommer Browning and David Shields model remote intimacy with their playfully risqué message thread from a shared virtual viewing of Eyes Wide Shut. Anyone who has weathered the past few months will find something in here that speaks to them. Agent: Linda Migalti, Susan Schulman & Assoc. (Sept.)