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In these thematically linked pieces, Sue William Silverman explores the fear of death, and her desire to survive it, through gallows humor, realism, and speculation. Although defeating death is physically impossible, language, commemoration, and metaphor can offer slivers of transcendent immortality.
List of contents
Author’s Note
Ultima Thule
Fate 1
Clotho
spins the thread of life
The Eternal Reign of Miss Route 17
13 Ways of Surviving New Jersey
Miss Route 17 Refuses to Grow Old
The Three Fates: How Much Is the Moon Worth?
The Remarkable Death-Defying Exploits of Miss Route 17
Until My Number Comes Up
Requiem for a Qwertyist
My Death in the Family
The Three Fates: Drawing the Shades
A Member of the Wedding
Fate 2
Lachesis
measures the thread of life to determine how long you live
The Sick Hypochondriac
The Three Fates: On Tedium
The Safe Side
My Life as a Thanatologist
The Janet Leigh Variations
The Summer of Hate and Death
Here Be Human Dragons
Miss Route 17’s Near-Death Experience under the Boardwalk at the New Jersey Shore
Sigilisms of Miss Route 17’s Many Hidden Talents
Death Comes for the Poet
Flirting with the Butcher
The Three Fates and the Barefoot Angels
Fate 3
Atropos
cuts the thread of life with a pair of shears to decide how someone dies
At the Terminal Gate
Miss Route 17’s Own Graceland
Memorabilia: My Guardian Devils and the Phantom of the Opera Gloves
The Three Fates: When You Go
Of Chrysanthemums, Tupperware, Cremated Remains, and FedEx-ing to the Great Beyond
Miss Route 17’s Blue Period
The Three Fates: Filling in the Blanks
On the Reliance of Verbs to Survive Death
The Queen of Panmnesia
Acknowledgments
Notes
About the author
Sue William Silverman is a memoirist, poet, and teacher of writing at the Vermont College of Fine Arts. She has published several books, including
Because I Remember Terror, Father, I Remember You;
Love Sick: One Woman’s Journey through Sexual Addiction;
The Pat Boone Fan Club: My Life as a White Anglo-Saxon Jew (Nebraska, 2014); and
Fearless Confessions: A Writer’s Guide to Memoir.
Summary
In these thematically linked pieces, Sue William Silverman explores the fear of death, and her desire to survive it, through gallows humor, realism, and speculation. Although defeating death is physically impossible, language, commemoration, and metaphor can offer slivers of transcendent immortality.
