Reviews

The Guardians: An Elegy for a Friend by Sarah Manguso

almotters's review against another edition

3.0

It was interesting and I wanted to read a book from the perspective of someone who'd lost a friend to suicide and that's what I got.
The parts where she talked about her own mental health and some mental health issues in general were interesting as well. Though there were a couple parts where she strayed from this (e.g where she talked about travelling in Europe) and I didn't really care about that. However because it's such a short book, I could just quickly read past these bits.

bghillman's review

5.0

Absolutely devastating. it is impossible to read this and think about life (and death) the same way. Anything else I could say would be a disservice to this text. Go read it when you feel mentally prepared to read something from which you might never recover.

wtfisapoet's review

My advice is that you could take or leave this book.

emmastia's review

2.0

Beautifully written but ultimately you want something more. A glimpse into dealing with grief and dealing with psychosis. Not as satisfying as I would have hoped.

beyondrecovery's review against another edition

5.0

I'd read 2 other Manguso works this year and while I enjoyed both a lot, this was the one that really punched me in the gut and reached a level the other two didn't.

avadore's review against another edition

5.0

I love reading in bars and crying, see my highlights for some gems. Recommended to anyone who wants to explore grief and mental illness.

wtb_michael's review

5.0

Manguso dissects her grief and friendship with gorgeous spare prose - this is 100 pages of pure, compressed power. Glorious.

bookedbytim's review

4.0

"I am so lucky."

I haven't been the same since finishing this book. It covers the space of emptiness one feels in the wake of a great loss. Memories zip line across her mind, in a fragmented style that pervades the book. Read it. Cry. And better yet, think.