Synopses & Reviews
In the manner of Calvino's Invisible Cities, Wendy S. Walters's essays deftly explore the psyches of cities such as Chicago, Detroit, New York, Portsmouth, and Washington, D.C. In "Cleveland," she interviews an African-American playwright who draws great reviews, but can't muster an audience. An on-air telephone chat between a DJ and his listeners drives a discussion of race and nutrition in "Chicago Radio." In "Manhattanville" the author, out for a walk with her biracial son, is mistaken for his nanny. Each essay explores societal questionshow eras of immense growth can leave us unable to prosper from that growth, how places intended for safety become fraught with danger, and how race and gender bias threaten our communities. Walters's haunting utterances are beautifully precise estimations of a place and its people.
Review
“[H]er writing becomes direct and bodily. She narrates her own struggles with depression, relationships, sexuality and assault without ever demanding the reader’s pity.” Chicago Tribune
Review
“Piece by piece, Walters . . . explores the psyche of place and culture
in the U.S., including insightful and powerful reflections on how race
plays into both. As the subtitle suggests, the works in Multiply/Divide
span the real and the surreal, with prose that is sometimes strange and
convoluted, and sometimes straightforward and concise — and always
powerful and thought provoking.” Shelf Awareness, starred review
Review
"A poet's collection of prose that blurs the boundaries of fiction, memoir, and essay. . . .The juxtapositions within the collection are formally provocative. . . .Feelings of love and loneliness pervade this collection, through writing that seeks understanding of person and place through history and geography. A curious collection, as interesting for the way the pieces fit together as for the accomplishment of any one of them." Kirkus Review
Synopsis
Literary essays explore psyches of American cities, race, and the shrinking space between safety and danger.
About the Author
Wendy S. Walters is the author of two books of poems, Troy, Michigan and Longer I Wait, More You Love Me. Her work has appeared in Harpers, Bookforum, The Iowa Review, and others. She is Associate Professor of creative writing at The New School University in New York.