Body Work The Radical Power Of Personal Narrative Melissa Febos by Melissa Febos 9781646220861, 1646220862 instant download after payment.

"I do not think that the vocation of writer is superior to any other," writes Melissa Febos in her newest essay collection, "but I do believe it is the most useful life for me, the one in which I can most be of service to this questionable project of human civilization."

In this bold and exhilarating mix of memoir and master class, Melissa Febos tackles the emotional, psychological, and physical work of writing intimately while offering an utterly fresh examination of the storyteller’s life and the questions which run through it. 

How might we go about capturing on the page the relationships that have formed us? How do we write about our bodies, their desires and traumas? What does it mean for an author’s way of writing, or living, to be dismissed as “navel-gazing” - or else hailed as “so brave, so raw”? And to whom, in the end, do our most intimate stories belong? 

"Body Work is in itself an example of the strength of personal narrative; it's also an argument for how such narratives inevitably create space for community as well as a freer self."  -   Ilana Masad, NPR

Drawing on her own path from aspiring writer to acclaimed author and writing professor—via addiction and recovery, sex work and academia - Melissa Febos has created a captivating guide to the writing life, and a brilliantly unusual exploration of subjectivity, privacy, and the power of divulgence. Candid and inspiring, Body Work will empower readers and writers alike, offering ideas - and occasional notes of caution - to anyone who has ever hoped to see themselves in a story.