{"product_id":"my-body-is-a-book-of-rules-9781597099691","title":"My Body Is a Book of Rules","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\"A candid, autobiographical scrapbook from a young woman navigating manic depression....\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA fever dream of darkly personal memories and musings from the shadowy corners of sexual violence and mental illness.\"\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e--\u003cem\u003eKirkus Review\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAs Elissa Washuta makes the transition from college kid to independent adult, she finds herself overwhelmed by the calamities piling up in her brain. When her mood-stabilizing medications aren't threatening her life, they're shoving her from depression to mania and back in the space of an hour. Her crisis of American Indian identity bleeds into other areas of self-doubt; mental illness, sexual trauma, ethnic identity, and independence become intertwined. Sifting through the scraps of her past in seventeen formally inventive chapters, Washuta aligns the strictures of her Catholic school education with C\u003cem\u003eosmopolitan\u003c\/em\u003e's mandates for womanhood, views memories through the distorting lens of \u003cem\u003eLaw \u0026amp; Order: Special Victims Unit\u003c\/em\u003e, and contrasts her bipolar highs and lows with those of Britney Spears and Kurt Cobain. Built on the bones of fundamental identity questions as contorted by a distressed brain, \u003cem\u003eMy Body Is a Book of Rules\u003c\/em\u003e pulls no punches in its self-deprecating and ferocious look at human fallibility.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThis debut memoir from the independent publisher Red Hen Press isn't for the faint of heart. Washuta's honest and lyrical language as well as her subject matter -- her struggles with bipolar disorder and coping with the effects of rape -- will gut you, but it's the rawness of this work that makes it worth reading. Washuta's form, including revised psychiatrists' notes, annotated research papers on the use of the term \"hooking up,\" summaries of prescription medications, and a Match.com profile, is inventive and invites the reader into the author's chaotic brain. The book perfectly articulates the difficulties navigating the path toward adulthood while coping with trauma and mental illness.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e--Melissa Duclos for \u003cem\u003eBustle\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eFeatured in Seattle Reading List: https: \/\/www.seattlemet.com\/arts-and-culture\/a-big-seattle-reading-list-of-washington-books#fiction\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eElissa Washuta, a member of the Cowlitz Indian Tribe, was born in New Jersey and now lives in Seattle. She received an MFA in creative writing from the University of Washington in 2009 and has been the recipient of an Artist Trust GAP Award, a Potlatch Fund Native Arts Grant, a 4Culture Grant, and a Made at Hugo House Fellowship. Her work has appeared in \u003ci\u003eSalon\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003e The Chronicle of Higher Education\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThird Coast\u003c\/i\u003e. She is an adviser and lecturer in American Indian Studies at the University of Washington. \u003ci\u003eMy Body Is a Book of Rules\u003c\/i\u003e is her first book.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Red Hen Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50620468396306,"sku":"9781597099691","price":14.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_e02322f3-27f8-4300-8072-cf686f405aa0.jpg?v=1732567212","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/my-body-is-a-book-of-rules-9781597099691","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}