8: All True: Unbelievable [Hardcover]

Amy Fusselman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 3, 2007

In this gorgeously elliptical memoir, the acclaimed author of "The Pharmacist's Mate" examines motherhood, childhood and the unexpected effects of past events and present actions. The mania of early motherhood, the intimacy of marriage and the quest for healing are raw materials from which critically acclaimed writer Amy Fusselman has wrought her latest work - a daring exploration of the perversities of time. The same idiosyncratic and inimitable form Fusselman created in the astonishingly original "The Pharmacist's Mate" - short, staccato paragraphs, some reading like journal entries - lends intimacy to her reflections and observations. From her experiences with the man she calls 'my paedophile' to the more domestic trials of sleep training her infant son or her obsession with a Beastie Boys song, Fusselman moves from one subject to the next with the freeform exuberance of a child at play. Sometimes the topic is abstract and grand, such as her contemplation of what Time is; other times, she focuses on the seemingly trivial and mundane aspects of life. The idea of learning through repetition and the automatic motions of humans are metaphorically represented by the countless figure eights she performed as a child on the ice. Family is ever present in 8, and Fusselman writes with inclusive tenderness, extending this intimacy to the reader as well. Her efforts to come to terms with the ideas of innocence, aging and the healing power of touch draw the reader in still deeper - the uplifting revelations staying with you long after the last page is turned.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Fusselman (The Pharmacist's Mate) skated figure eights when she was little. Those become a metaphor for the way events have folded and unfolded in her life. Her pivotal event was being raped by the husband of her babysitter when she was four. She doesn't describe the actual rape, although she refers to the perpetrator over and over as "my pedophile." Around the time of the rape, she went to a performance of Sleeping Beauty with her mother, but suddenly walked up on stage to kiss the prince. She says many people, including her editor, did not find this believable. She wants readers to understand that this was "true" if "unbelievable," as her subtitle suggests. Indeed, she seems to think this is what writing a memoir is all about-making some inner truth believable to others. Though it's only 132 pages, that count has been inflated with many little vignettes-listening to a wise taxi driver, trying to learn to ride a motorcycle, being treated by "alternative" healers, watching monster truck videos with her children. Even so, there's a lot less here than meets the eye.
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Review

"This sweet, sincere story of Fusselman's attempts to get pregnant and to come to terms with her father's death is told in a wholly original epigrammatic style--the encapsulated meditations of a woman taking life as it comes, beat by beat."

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 144 pages
• Publisher: Counterpoint (April 3, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1582433682
• ISBN-13: 978-1582433684
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #460,805 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Haunting Book, May 17, 2007

By 

ReaderRabbit "ReaderRabbit" (Colorado) - See all my reviews

This review is from: 8: All True: Unbelievable (Hardcover)

This is a beautiful and haunting book -- half narrative and half philosophy. Amy Fusselman delves more and more deeply into the nature of cause-and-effect and into the nature of time itself as she explores events in her past and how they continue to resonate into her present. It is lyrcal, it is powerful, it is even funny. This is not a simple "I was a Victim" tale -- it is much more complex, and much more moving, than that.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Poignant, September 4, 2009

By 

L. J. Horsley (Bellport, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: 8: All True: Unbelievable (Hardcover)

Amy's refreshing writing illustrates Tom Robbin's line that "its never too late to have a happy childhood". Her ability to notice and deftly write about some of the most tender (both good and bad) moments in her and her family's life made me swoon. Several times I had to put the book down just to catch my breath (& not break into tears on the subway) but to also savor the moments she was conjuring. It was that real AND poetic. Am looking forward now to reading the "The Pharmacist's Mate". kudos Amy!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining, with many great ideas & thoughts: a rambling exploration / pseudo-memoir, October 9, 2007

By 

Ross K: expatriot Seattlite (Denver, CO) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: 8: All True: Unbelievable (Hardcover)

A really entertaining book with many great ideas & thoughts: a rambling exploration / pseudo-memoir including her reflections on childhood sexual abuse ("I have a pedophile"), explorations of healing (counseling, followed by something like Reiki), seeing famous people in New York (including a Beastie Boy), monster trucks, and learning to ride a motorcycle. It's very short -- probably novella length -- and I suspect if you start it you'll finish it.