Freud's Blind Spot: 23 Original Essays on Cherished, Estranged, Lost, Hurtful, Hopeful, Complicated Siblings

by Elisa Albert

Overview

Relationships with our siblings stretch, as an old saying has it, all the way from the cradle to the grave. Few bonds in life are as significant, as formative, as lasting, and as frequently overlooked as those we share with our brothers and sisters.

In this stellar, first-of-its-kind anthology, contemporary writers explore the rich and varied landscape of sibling experience, illuminating the essential, occasionally wonderful, often difficult ways our brothers and sisters—or lack thereof—shape us. There are those who love and cherish their siblings, those who abhor and avoid them, and everyone in between.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781439198810
Publisher:	Free Press
Publication date:	11/16/2010
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	288
File size:	5 MB

About the Author

Elisa Albert is the author of After Birth, The Book of Dahlia, How This Night Is Different, and editor of the anthology Freud’s Blind Spot. Her stories and essays have appeared in Time, The Guardian, The New York Times, n+1, Bennington Review, Tin House, Michigan Quarterly Review, The Literary Review, the Los Angeles Review of Books, and elsewhere. She lives in upstate New York. 

Table of Contents

Introduction Elisa Albert 1

The Brothers Grim Steve Almond 7

Elliot Lauren Grodstein 17

Any Day Now Joanna Hershon 23

Islanders Eric Orner 33

Dyke Bridge Peter Orner 43

Sean Robert Anthony Siegel 47

Jackie Margo Rabb 61

Gender Studies Mary Norris 69

The Gospel According to P- Victor LaValle 85

Who Will Save Us Now" Nalini Jones 97

Thirty-eight Questions I've Always Wanted to Ask My Brother Steve but Never Have Until Now T Cooper 109

True Brothers James Cañón 129

Ben Hermann Forever Nellie Hermann 139

Bodies of Water Miranda Beverly-Whitternore 147

Brotherly Love Edward Schwarzschild 157

Burning Questions Jill Soloway Faith Soloway 167

The Age of Innocence Daphne Beal 187

The Roof Beneath Our Feet Jay Baron Nicorvo 203

Ultra-Orthodox Sister Etgar Keret 219

Tickle or Torture Vestal Mclntyre 225

Sister Angela Pneuman 237

Halfway or In-between or Something Else Nat Bennett 243

N: I Knew Him When Rebecca Wolff 255

Contributors 263

Editorial Reviews

The opportunity to explore relationships between siblings is rich with possibilities and fraught with dramatic moments, as 24 writers with blood siblings, half siblings, step siblings, and in one case, an imaginary sibling, write about their brothers and sisters with honesty, bravery, and no small amount of humor. Beginning the lineup is Steve Almond's (Rock and Roll Will Save Your Life) "The Brothers Grim," in which he entertains the reader as he tells one self-deprecating tale after another of his adolescent suffering at the hands of his brothers. In "Islanders," Eric Orner uses a graphic novel format to recount a teenage summer spent on Martha's Vineyard with his brother under the dark cloud of their parents' stormy relationship. The essays focus on the sibling bond of losing or caring for a parent; the loss of a sibling to sudden death or religious conversion; the arrival of new siblings through extramarital affairs or gender-reassignment surgery; and the unrequited longing for a sister, among other significant issues. At times, the selection and arrangement of the essays feels inconsistent, though there are plenty of standout essays such as Etgar Keret's "Ultra Orthodox Sister" and Daphne Beal's "The Age of Innocence." (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly

"An introspective, provocative collection of firsthand accounts of siblinghood’s joys and pains." —Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

An introspective, provocative collection of firsthand accounts of siblinghood's joys and pains.

Editor Albert (The Book of Dahlia, 2008, etc.) admits that her endeavor was cathartic, forcing her to process years of stressful domestic melodrama. She considers herself an only child, though she grew up with two brothers ("the sun and moon of my earliest memories")—one died young and the other offered constant disappointment, resulting in a painful estrangement. Credited as the "unsung heroes of our psychological development," the brothers and sisters gathered here range from the good to the bad, the infuriating to the beloved, leaving the meandering and the misunderstood to tug at readers' heartstrings. Outspoken author Steve Almond (Rock and Roll Will Save Your Life, 2010, etc.) leads off with childhood memories of being cruelly terrorized by his brothers, which bled into his adult life, where all three now (barely) communicate "in a stunted, regressive manner." Animation artist Eric Orner offers a skillfully drawn, bittersweet portrait of a '70s summer vacation on Martha's Vineyard spent consoling his younger brother Peter as their two bickering parents announced a divorce. Novelist Peter Orner (The Second Coming of Mavala Shikongo, 2007, etc.) counters his brother's perspective by earnestly correlating his memories to the Kennedy Chappaquiddick tragedy. While many essays adeptly form quick, potent family snapshots—e.g., Jay Nicorvo's nostalgic teenaged rooftop adventure—especially revelatory are the stories of siblings who've bonded with each other over life-changing decisions. New Yorker staffer Mary Norris's brother Dennis guided his sister incrementally through his transsexual transformation to become Dee. T Cooper corners his brother, a former rocker, by e-mail with 38 probing questions that end up enlightening them both on adoption, their parents, guns and his life as a policeman. Forty-something Jewish sisters Jill and Faith Soloway take the same Q&A approach, querying each other on their inner-city Chicago upbringing, Jill's life as an Emmy-winning TV producer and Faith's single-motherhood and lesbianism. Other contributors include Etgar Keret, Nalini Jones and Rebecca Wolff.

Therapeutic for the editor and a significant bounty for readers.

Kirkus Reviews