Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
In this unique, compelling blend of cultural criticism and personal essay, poet Lynn Melnick has written a moving and essential exploration of what it takes to find your voice as a woman, a survivor, an artist, and an icon.The first time Lynn Melnick listened to a Dolly Parton song in full, she was 14 years old, in the triage room of a Los Angeles hospital, waiting to be admitted to a drug rehab program. Already in her young life as a suburban Jewish teen in the 1980s, she had been the victim of rape, abuse, and trauma, and her path to healing would be long. But in Parton's words and music, she recognized a fellow survivor.
Melnick blends personal essay with astute cultural and music criticism in twenty-one chapters that explore Parton's dual identities as feminist icon and objectified sex symbol--identities that reflect the author's own fraught history with rape culture and the grueling effort to reclaim her voice in the wake of loss and trauma. Each chapter engages with the artistry and cultural impact of one of Parton's songs, as Melnick reckons with violence, misogyny, creativity, parenting, abortion, sex work, love, and the consolations and cruelties of religion. Guided by Parton's music, Melnick walks the slow path to recovery and finds her voice as a poet in the company of those who came before her and stand with her, as trauma is an experience both unique and universal.
Bold, inventive, and essential, Melnick gives us an accessible and memorable framework for understanding our times and an inspiring, moving account of survival, persistence, and self-discovery.
Synopsis
"An ode to storytelling itself.... A gorgeous and heart-rending story of survival. "--Melissa Febos, author of
Girlhood
A moving and essential exploration of what it takes to find your voice as a woman, a survivor, an artist, and an icon.
The first time Lynn Melnick listened to a Dolly Parton song in full, she was 14 years old, in the triage room of a Los Angeles hospital, waiting to be admitted to a drug rehab program. Already in her young life as a Jewish teen in the 1980s, she had been the victim of rape, abuse, and trauma, and her path to healing would be long. But in Parton's words and music, she recognized a fellow survivor.
In this powerful, incisive work of social- and self-exploration, Melnick blends personal essay with cultural criticism to explore Parton's dual identities as feminist icon and objectified sex symbol, identities that reflect the author's own fraught history with rape culture and the arduous work of reclaiming her voice. Each chapter engages with the artistry and impact of one of Parton's songs, as Melnick reckons with violence, misogyny, creativity, parenting, friendship, sex, love, and the consolations and cruelties of religion. Bold and inventive, I've Had to Think Up a Way to Survive gives us an accessible and memorable framework for understanding our times and a revelatory account of survival, persistence, and self-discovery.