Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by thestoryprofessor
The Glass Eye: A Memoir by Jeannie Vanasco
5.0
This is an exceptional, quick, and genuinely heartfelt memoir. Vanasco's examination of grief, mental illness, and writing is not only an evocative read, it breaks the mold in so many ways, for even she says that there are "plenty of memoirs about grief" yet none of them feel so thorough as this one does.
In researching and searching for her father, who passed away as a very interesting and secretive person, Vanasco learns more and more about her older half sister who she is named after and who died two decades before Vanasco's own birth. That alone makes for an interesting memoir, but really sold me that this memoir exceeds most others on similar topics is that Vanasco gives us inside looks into the writing process and the need to write about her father, how her mental illness shaped the journey of both writing and grieving. Vanasco really doesn't leave anything on the cutting room floor which makes this memoir vulnerable, unique, and relatable. Her process to write and doubt this memoir make all of her questions about her father feel that much more genuine.
I don't typically like memoirs because of their nature to skew events for the benefit of the author (like reportedly what happened to the extreme with Tara Westover's memoir "Educated: a memoir"), but Vanasco writes so authentically, letting us see the confusion, the brokenness, the writer's imposter syndrome, and the grief that she dealt with throughout most of her life.
In researching and searching for her father, who passed away as a very interesting and secretive person, Vanasco learns more and more about her older half sister who she is named after and who died two decades before Vanasco's own birth. That alone makes for an interesting memoir, but really sold me that this memoir exceeds most others on similar topics is that Vanasco gives us inside looks into the writing process and the need to write about her father, how her mental illness shaped the journey of both writing and grieving. Vanasco really doesn't leave anything on the cutting room floor which makes this memoir vulnerable, unique, and relatable. Her process to write and doubt this memoir make all of her questions about her father feel that much more genuine.
I don't typically like memoirs because of their nature to skew events for the benefit of the author (like reportedly what happened to the extreme with Tara Westover's memoir "Educated: a memoir"), but Vanasco writes so authentically, letting us see the confusion, the brokenness, the writer's imposter syndrome, and the grief that she dealt with throughout most of her life.