{"product_id":"9781770416055","title":"Is This Scary?: Poems","description":"\u003ctable\u003e\u003ctbody\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAuthor\/Contributor(s):\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"\"\u003eScheier, Jacob\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eECW Press\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDate:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e4\/13\/2021\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBinding:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"\"\u003ePaperback\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCondition:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"\"\u003eNEW\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003c\/tbody\u003e\u003c\/table\u003e\u003cb\u003eA challenging exploration of mental illness and disability from Governor General’s Award winner Jacob Scheier.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eIs This Scary?\u003c\/i\u003e digs deep into internal landscapes of suffering, including depression and anxiety, chronic physical ailment, and rare neurological malady. With its many eccentric songs and odes to medications and medical procedures, this book is full of both levity and unapologetic lament. Pushing back against societal stigma, \u003ci\u003eIs This Scary?\u003c\/i\u003e unflinchingly addresses experiences of psychiatric institutionalization and suicidality, without either romanticizing or pathologizing them. Scheier rejects much of the mainstream cultural views of mental illness, subverting the biochemical model by emphasizing the radical subjectivity of mental suffering. While the poems render the difficulty of communicating pain to others, they defiantly celebrate its expression and evocation through visceral lyricism.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eScheier also challenges our culture’s desire to be inspired by stories of “triumphing” over illness and disability. Nothing is overcome here, the journey from illness to wellness is one of narrative and aesthetic disruption. The perpetually incomplete search for self and home is ultimately at the heart of this book: along with being a person with disabilities, the poet-speaker identifies as a Diaspora-Jew, engaging exile as a chronic state of being that isn’t intended to be resolved, but rather explored, expressed, and honored.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eOde to Prednisone\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eHerr Pill! You murder sleep.\u003cbr\u003e Eugenicist Cortisol, re-make me—\u003cbr\u003e ox-strong, moon-faced, onioned-skin.\u003cbr\u003e Hugs are dangerous.\u003cbr\u003e Performance-enhancing drug for poets—\u003cbr\u003e you triple feelings. Elegies for the late train \u0026amp; spilled milk.\u003cbr\u003e Anxiety is Everything.\u003cbr\u003e Threatened by the light that brightens the dark.\u003cbr\u003e Dread tolerates Ativan.\u003cbr\u003e Faustian Chemical, you resurrect myths\u003cbr\u003e like Lazarus. He was never the same.\u003cbr\u003e Charon-ian Steroid,\u003cbr\u003e I’ve been to that shore the dead clamour for.","brand":"ECW Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46506375217407,"sku":"9781770416055","price":19.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"url":"https:\/\/massivebookshop.com\/de\/products\/9781770416055","provider":"MASSIVE BOOKSHOP","version":"1.0","type":"link"}