Slater, Lauren. Lying: a metaphorical memoir.Penguin. 222p. c2000, 0-14-200006-X. $13.00. SA * The art of writing memoir that evokes greater truths in the minds and hearts of readers, instead of being limited to a catharsis catharsis Purging or purification of emotions through art. The term is derived from the Greek katharsis (“purgation,” “cleansing”), a medical term used by Aristotle as a metaphor to describe the effects of dramatic tragedy on the spectator: by for the author, is both subtle and capable of great power. Slater (author of Prozac Diary, 1998) accomplishes much in this memoir of her struggles with epilepsy epilepsy, a chronic disorder of cerebral function characterized by periodic convulsive seizures. There are many conditions that have epileptic seizures. Sudden discharge of excess electrical activity, which can be either generalized (involving many areas of cells in and concomitant personality issues in her childhood and youth: she provides readers with insight on this myth-laden physical disorder A physical disorder (as a medical term) is often used as a term in contrast to a mental disorder, in an attempt to differentiate medical disorders which have an available objective mechanical test (such as chemical tests or brain scans), from those disorders which have no and its psychological components; she reveals subtle truths about how people choose somatic somatic /so·mat·ic/ (so-mat´ik) 1. pertaining to or characteristic of the soma or body. 2. pertaining to the body wall in contrast to the viscera. so·mat·ic adj. as well as intellectual methods for "telling" the stories of their own lives; and she calls into serious question how lying, when used as metaphor, can be a method of communicating the truth. Slater developed epilepsy when she was ten, and suffered such severe and frequent seizures that she underwent surgery, at 13, to relieve the intensity of the electrical discharges Noun 1. electrical discharge - a discharge of electricity discharge - the sudden giving off of energy nerve impulse, nervous impulse, neural impulse, impulse - the electrical discharge that travels along a nerve fiber; "they demonstrated the transmission of as they traveled between brain hemispheres. No one, however, is limited to the sum of his/her physical state, and Slater's character also was informed by her parents' mismatched partnership, her own imaginative world, and the interest her physical condition evoked in healthcare professionals. Whether she "used" epilepsy to show herself or whether being epileptic epileptic /ep·i·lep·tic/ (ep?i-lep´tik) 1. pertaining to or affected with epilepsy. 2. a person affected with epilepsy. ep·i·lep·tic n. One who has epilepsy. shaped that self is one of the provocative questions she raises within her telling of her youth. Slater's writing is graceful and engaging, making the story of her years between 10 and 20 easy to offer teenage girls. Readers who themselves have experiences with epilepsy will find valuable insight on the condition and its treatment here, but those with no such experience will become equally involved in the author's discussion of how one both does and can't shape self perception willfully willfully adv. referring to doing something intentionally, purposefully and stubbornly. Examples: "He drove the car willfully into the crowd on the sidewalk." "She willfully left the dangerous substances on the property." (See: willful) . Among the variety of audiences this book suits, mother-daughter book clubs might consider it a meaty text to share. Francisca Goldsmith, Teen Svcs., Berkeley P.L., Berkeley, CA |
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