Sei Shonagon’s Pillow Book–a key inspiration for Rivka Galchen’s new book–contains a list of “Things That Make One Nervous.” And wouldn’t the blessed event top almost anyone’s list?
Little Labors is a slanted, enchanted literary miscellany. Varying in length from just a sentence or paragraph to a several-page story or essay, Galchen’s puzzle pieces assemble into a shining, unpredictable, mordant picture of the ordinary-extraordinary nature of babies and literature. Anecdotal or analytic, each part opens up an odd and tender world of wonder. The 47 Ronin; the black magic of maternal love; babies morphing from pumas to chickens; the quasi-repellent concept of “women writers”; origami-ophilia in Oklahoma as a gateway drug to a lifelong obsession with Japan; discussions of favorite passages from the Heian masterpieces Genji and The Pillow Book; the frightening prevalence of orange as today’s new chic color for baby gifts; Frankenstein as a sort of baby; babies gold mines; babies as tiny Godzillas …
Little Labors-atomized and exploratory, conceptually byzantine and freshly forthright-delights.
Author: Rivka Galchen
Binding Type: Hardcover
Publisher: New Directions Publishing Corporation
Published: 05/17/2016
Pages: 136
Weight: 0.5lbs
Size: 7.20h x 4.70w x 0.60d
ISBN: 9780811225588
Language: English
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