Idiophone - by Amy Fusselman (Paperback)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

Leaping from ballet to quiltmaking, from the The Nutcracker to an Annie-B Parson interview, Idiophone is a strikingly original meditation on risk-taking and provocation in art and a unabashedly honest, funny, and intimate consideration of art-making in the context of motherhood, and motherhood in the context of addiction. Amy Fusselman's compact, beautifully digressive essay feels both surprising and effortless, fueled by broad-ranging curiosity, and, fundamentally, joy.

Review Quotes

Longlisted for the Believer Book Award in Nonfiction

"This small and beautiful book about feminism and motherhood and art is perfect for those of us who like thinking outside of the box when we're looking for something lovely to read." --Vulture

"Idiophone stands as Fusselman's boldest reckoning yet." --Los Angeles Review of Books

"Amy Fusselman is a genius with language." --Nylon

"Fusselman bounds with great dexterity from theme to theme--covering topics including addiction, motherhood, gender, and art--until she has transformed the traditional essay into something far wilder and more alive." --Publishers Weekly, starred review

"Amy Fusselman's compact, beautifully digressive essay feels both surprising and effortless, fueled by broad-ranging curiosity, and, fundamentally, joy." --The Rumpus

"This book, about ballet and beauty, philosophy and family, reinforces Amy Fusselman's status as one of our best interrogators of how we live now, and how we should live. As always, Fusselman asks tough questions and answers them with rare lyricism and candor." --Dave Eggers

"In outrageously simple, inexplicably tender prose, Fusselman presses on her nouns until they break, and then, after denotation is no longer their most important job, they perform quite a bit of unexpected and marvelous work. This book is going to haunt me." --Sarah Manguso

"Reader, make yourself ready for a love letter to motherhood, for an examination of the limits of performance, and for a battle cry to experimental voices--all of it powered writing that pirouettes to its own fabulous music." --Elena Passarello

"A furious, necessary, convincing rejuvenation of writer and reader, not to mention a brilliant reading of and against The Nutcracker." --David Shields

"No one acrobats between beauty, confession, rueful humor, and deep insight with such amazing trapeze-y ease as Amy Fusselman." --John Hodgman

About the Author