Trying to imagine the loneliness of working at a bookstore named for your mom after she went back to your abuser—and then becoming her assistant, all while your sister works on her biography that won’t mention your abuse. www.newyorker.com/magazine/202... - ThreadSky

alexanderchee.bsky.social • 66 days ago

Trying to imagine the loneliness of working at a bookstore named for your mom after she went back to your abuser—and then becoming her assistant, all while your sister works on her biography that won’t mention your abuse.
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/12/30/alice-munros-passive-voice

Comments

alisonstrack.bsky.social•66 days ago

Its almost unfathomable to imagine. And then to endure the gawking of the world. She’s a brave and strong woman.

kcecelia.bsky.social•66 days ago

Yes.

classicalradical.bsky.social•66 days ago

Frankly, I've never understood the obsession with author's personal lives. I'm not interested in whether authors whose books I enjoy reading are good or bad people.

leeprusik.bsky.social•65 days ago

I am only interested in this, as embodied in the work.

chayab77.bsky.social•66 days ago

No art has to come at this kind of cost.
None.

alexanderchee.bsky.social•66 days ago

Yes, to paraphrase Elizabeth Bishop, art isn’t worth this much.

lizamazel.bsky.social•65 days ago

the idea that art inevitably comes from suffering has been a disservice to so many people in so many ways.

briebrie.bsky.social•66 days ago

Horrific.

dangerblond.bsky.social•65 days ago

Incredible story. Alice Munro's behavior is bad enough, but it seems like Andrea's father and the rest of the family were mostly worried about how this would affect the Alice Munro industry.

islandofreil.bsky.social•66 days ago

Layers and layers of moral bankruptcy.

alexanderchee.bsky.social•66 days ago

I wasn’t sure I could read more about Munro but Rachel Aviv’s essay is an astonishing and insightful act of investigative reporting. I’m not done with it yet as I keep stopping and then continuing so the last revelations are still ahead of me.

megmaker.com•66 days ago

Thank you for the encouragement forward. I wasn't sure, either, but it's good to know Aviv's piece is worth the psychic effort.

alexanderchee.bsky.social•65 days ago

It really looks at the generational trauma that created the situation, from the abuse Alice suffered as a child to her marriage and her daughter’s abuse, the silence, all of it, and the insights are worth it.

nevint.bsky.social•66 days ago

I hadn't read the biography, but I was wondering if it would have mentioned any of the abuse. An "open secret." Troubling how complicit Canada's literary community (or, perhaps "family" is a better word) is, given Munro's husbands prior conviction was public knowledge.

elliottholt.bsky.social•66 days ago

I read it in one painful gulp yesterday. Aviv is amazing.

elliottholt.bsky.social•66 days ago

It’s an astonishing piece of reporting. So beautifully shattering.

alexanderchee.bsky.social•65 days ago

Have finished the Aviv essay on Munro and her family and I feel like I understand so much more than just this story now.

karenpalmer.bsky.social•65 days ago

It took me forever to get through it. Heart racing, and the sensation of sinking, over and over.

alexanderchee.bsky.social•65 days ago

The family dysfunction going back generations like a cave with chambers.

pianoplayer.bsky.social•65 days ago

Any chance of a gift article?

sarahweinman.com•65 days ago

Very much same. I think this is as comprehensive as it gets (while also complimenting Giles Harvey’s piece, also quite good)

alexanderchee.bsky.social•65 days ago

The section on her mother and “Royal Beatings”…

alexanderchee.bsky.social•65 days ago

Haven’t gotten to that yet, that’s next.

artrage.bsky.social•65 days ago

ok I'll read it, been on the fence until now

alexanderchee.bsky.social•65 days ago

Definitely had to stop and come back but it was worth it.

artrage.bsky.social•65 days ago

done, and whoa.

nataliebrender.bsky.social•65 days ago

Isn't it staggering to finish and sit in all the emotional upheavals and insights, and glimpses of past lives .

anthrodiva.bsky.social•66 days ago

That essay made me glad for my parents and my parents are NO BUENO

lealovewriter.bsky.social•65 days ago

I'm going to read it. Thanks.

maris.bsky.social•66 days ago

I kept taking breaks. But the whole thing was terrible and brilliant.

maladroithe.bsky.social•66 days ago

Live look at me having finished it (after several breaks)

alexanderchee.bsky.social•66 days ago

Solidarity Maris

beejieweejie.bsky.social•57 days ago

I took breaks, and just finished, but man, what an avalanche.
I don't want to read another word she wrote, is where I'm at, at the moment. 😢

beejieweejie.bsky.social•57 days ago

And by "she" I mean "Alice" nor "Rachel". It is indeed brilliant.
This one is good also I think:
https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2024/12/05/alice-munros-retreat-anne-enright/

lollardfish.bsky.social•66 days ago

The audio track says it’s two hours long.

clairecameron.bsky.social•66 days ago

Yes, I spent a month listening to it yesterday. So well done.

alexanderchee.bsky.social•66 days ago

Yeah that’s what it feels like.

lollardfish.bsky.social•66 days ago

I’m sure. Aviv is often remarkable

beejieweejie.bsky.social•66 days ago

Haven't read yet - still getting over Anne Enright's piece in the NYRB.....😱

lealeander.bsky.social•65 days ago

I dread reading this but I know I must.

kamwt.bsky.social•66 days ago

Alice Munro's personal happiness at the expense of her daughter's abuse still has repercussions in Canada's literary community. Her alma mater, and mine, Western University, has removed the chair created in her honour. Tragic, and very sad.

grongar.bsky.social•66 days ago

Absolutely. I read it last night and I think it took me hours to get through it. Harrowing.

leeprusik.bsky.social•65 days ago

I have to read this brilliant essay a second time. Harrowing, complex.

hudsonette.bsky.social•65 days ago

What a horror story. But tremendous reporting.

ruthjoffre.bsky.social•66 days ago

There are so many disturbing revelations in this but the part about her openly discussing the situation with her editors and sending them stories clearly based on the abuse and its coverup really destroyed me

nataliebrender.bsky.social•66 days ago

There are so many devastating moments in this piece, and the layers of devastation just build kaleidoscopically til the end. Never read anything this deep or brilliantly constructed. Can't stop thinking about it.

alexanderchee.bsky.social•66 days ago

That describes it quite well, thank you.

heatherchristle.bsky.social•66 days ago

Spent the predawn hours alternating between reading the article, pausing to think/feel, and watching light return to the sky. Incredible, devastating work.

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