Overview

For fans of Maggie Nelson and Meghan O'Rourke, Jeannie Vanasco emerges as a definitive new voice in this stunning portrait of a daughter's love for her father and her near-unraveling after his death. The night before her father dies, eighteen-year-old Jeannie Vanasco promises she will write a book for him. But this isn't the book she imagined. The Glass Eye is Jeannie's struggle to honor her father, her larger-than-life hero but also the man who named her after his daughter from a previous marriage, a daughter who died. After his funeral, Jeannie spends the next decade in escalating mania, in and out of hospitals--increasingly obsessed with the other Jeanne. Obsession turns to investigation as Jeannie plumbs her childhood awareness of her dead half sibling and hunts for clues into the mysterious circumstances of her death. It becomes a puzzle Jeannie feels she must solve to better understand herself and her father. Jeannie Vanasco pulls us into her unraveling with such intimacy that her insanity becomes palpable, even logical. A brilliant exploration of the human psyche, The Glass Eye deepens our definitions of love, sanity, grief, and recovery.

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9781941040775

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Reviews

Jeannie Vanasco has crafted a book that will worm its way under your skin, a book that will not give you easy answers or heartwarming takeaways, much in the same way that life will not give you easy answers or heartwarming takeaways. Jeannie Vanasco has created a book that I cannot stop thinking about.--Emily Ballaine, Green Apple Books An absolutely beautiful exploration of family, grief, memory, and madness, this book is outstanding. . . . The layers found in this memoir are as plentiful as the layers found in the human eye; ultimately, it is as deeply layered as the human experience itself.--Jamie Thomas, Women & Children First An unfettered dive into a brilliant, unraveling mind. Vanasco's memoir is visceral, poignant, and ultimately an affirmation of the healing power of literature and the resilience of the human soul. Astounding.--Keaton Patterson, Brazos Bookstore The Glass Eye is absolutely brilliant! Jeannie Vanasco taps into her own mental and emotional destruction after her father dies in a memoir that is constructed like no other. Not only did her writing transport me into her world (her mind), but Jeannie's ability to express the complexities of the human mind in such a beautiful and honest way, made her mania appear almost rational. . . . One of the best memoirs I've read in a long time. --Stephanie Coleman, Tattered Cover The Glass Eye is reminiscent of other memoirs of grief and madness, but that makes this enchanting book sound darker than it really is. Vanasco's humor and intelligence shine through her journey of loss. --Sarah Goddin, Quail Ridge Books Wise, brave and beautifully wrought, The Glass Eye signals the arrival of an exceptionally fine new voice.

Jeannie Vanasco has crafted a book that will worm its way under your skin, a book that will not give you easy answers or heartwarming takeaways, much in the same way that life will not give you easy answers or heartwarming takeaways. Jeannie Vanasco has created a book that I cannot stop thinking about.--Emily Ballaine, Green Apple Books An unfettered dive into a brilliant, unraveling mind. Vanasco's memoir is visceral, poignant, and ultimately an affirmation of the healing power of literature and the resilience of the human soul. Astounding.--Keaton Patterson, Brazos Bookstore Powerful and ruminative Vanasco's humor and intelligence shine through her journey of loss. One of the best memoirs I've read in a long time. A deceptively spare life story that sneaks up and surprises you with its sudden fecundity and power.--Kirkus Powerful and ruminative . . . This is an illuminating manual for understanding grief and the strange places it leads.--Publishers Weekly An absolutely beautiful exploration of family, grief, memory, and madness, this book is outstanding. . . . The layers found in this memoir are as plentiful as the layers found in the human eye; ultimately, it is as deeply layered as the human experience itself.--Jamie Thomas, Women & Children First This is memoir at its best. The prose is powerful and often breathtaking--it'll make your heart break, it might make you cry, and you'll probably even laugh a few times. This is an elegy fierce and lyrical and raw, like none I've read before.--Sarah Malley, Newtonville Books The Glass Eye is absolutely brilliant! Jeannie Vanasco taps into her own mental and emotional destruction after her father dies in a memoir that is constructed like no other. Not only did her writing transport me into her world (her mind), but Jeannie's ability to express the complexities of the human mind in such a beautiful and honest way, made her mania appear almost rational. . . . One of the best memoirs I've read in a long time. --Stephanie Coleman, Tattered Cover Bookstore A fascinating meditation on loss, and an enduring monument to what remains. Wise, brave and beautifully wrought, The Glass Eye signals the arrival of an exceptionally fine new voice.--Alexandra Styron, author of READING MY FATHER An experimental memoir that would make Maggie Nelson proud, The Glass Eye is a literary tour de force I have never read anything quite like The Glass Eye. The Glass Eye is reminiscent of other memoirs of grief and madness, but that makes this enchanting book sound darker than it really is. Vanasco's humor and intelligence shine through her journey of loss. --Sarah Goddin, Quail Ridge Books Wise, brave and beautifully wrought, The Glass Eye signals the arrival of an exceptionally fine new voice.

Wise, brave and beautifully wrought, The Glass Eye signals the arrival of an exceptionally fine new voice.

An unfettered dive into a brilliant, unraveling mind. Vanasco's memoir is visceral, poignant, and ultimately an affirmation of the healing power of literature and the resilience of the human soul. Astounding.--Keaton Patterson, Brazos Bookstore Jeannie Vanasco has crafted a book that will worm its way under your skin, a book that will not give you easy answers or heartwarming takeaways, much in the same way that life will not give you easy answers or heartwarming takeaways. Jeannie Vanasco has created a book that I cannot stop thinking about.--Emily Ballaine, Green Apple Books A deceptively spare life story that sneaks up and surprises you with its sudden fecundity and power.--Kirkus Powerful and ruminative . . . This is an illuminating manual for understanding grief and the strange places it leads.--Publishers Weekly An absolutely beautiful exploration of family, grief, memory, and madness, this book is outstanding. . . . The layers found in this memoir are as plentiful as the layers found in the human eye; ultimately, it is as deeply layered as the human experience itself.--Jamie Thomas, Women & Children First This is memoir at its best. The prose is powerful and often breathtaking--it'll make your heart break, it might make you cry, and you'll probably even laugh a few times. This is an elegy fierce and lyrical and raw, like none I've read before.--Sarah Malley, Newtonville Books [A]n intense and unforgettable memoir, as fascinating for its artistry as for its subject matter. . . . Lyric, haunted, smart and tortured, this is an obsessive love letter to a dead father as well as a singular work of literature.--Shelf Awareness Wildly innovative.--New York Magazine Vanasco's candor, curiosity, and commitment to human understanding are not to be missed.--Booklist, Starred Review Vanasco explores the intricacies of the human psyche with stunning poignancy.--Newsweek Compelling . . . Vanasco writes about her episodes of mental illness in a way that makes them so accessible, almost seeming rational at times.--Bustle One of the most inventive and engrossing memoirs I've read in a long, long time . . . If you want to read something that will make you think and that will keep revealing more to you every time you read it, this is the book.--Minnesota Public Radio Hypnotic . . . a haunting exploration of perception, memory, and the complexities of grief. In language that is understated and economical, Vanasco brings to life the father she loved with an almost frightening force . . . Vanasco's characters and settings are vivid, prismatic, and surreal.--The New York Times Book Review The Glass Eye is absolutely brilliant! Jeannie Vanasco taps into her own mental and emotional destruction after her father dies in a memoir that is constructed like no other. Not only did her writing transport me into her world (her mind), but Jeannie's ability to express the complexities of the human mind in such a beautiful and honest way, made her mania appear almost rational. . . . One of the best memoirs I've read in a long time.--Stephanie Coleman, Tattered Cover Bookstore A fascinating meditation on loss, and an enduring monument to what remains. Wise, brave and beautifully wrought, The Glass Eye signals the arrival of an exceptionally fine new voice. --Alexandra Styron, author of READING MY FATHER

Author Information

Jeannie Vanasco is the author of the memoirs Things We Didn't Talk About When I Was a Girl and The Glass Eye. Born and raised in Sandusky, Ohio, she lives in Baltimore and is an associate professor of English at Towson University.

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