Nervous

“Nervous takes the focus from the abstract and does what doctors (and historians) failed to do: makes her story, her pain, and her life as real as any history that proceeded. Nervous gives face and weight to those forgotten women whose suffering has become little more than anecdotal collections of stories, not real people. It’s seamless and powerful. Nervous is a masterful personal narrative, beautifully written and captivating. It should- and will- be placed alongside some of the best well-crafted and compelling contemporary memoirs of this era.” – Bassey Ikpi, New York Times bestselling author of I’m Telling the Truth but I’m Lying

“The essays in Nervous crackle and pulse with a beautiful bodily wisdom that animates a sparkling intellect. Jen Soriano tenderly, unflinchingly excavates layers of history and pain–found both in her body and our body politic–and offers all of us tools and materials to build a path toward wholeness. I’m in awe of Jen Soriano and you will be too.” – Angela Garbes, author of Essential Labor and Like a Mother

“Candid and affecting, this family saga testifies to the far-reaching effects of trauma.” – Publishers Weekly

“As I neared the end of this viscerally moving book, I thought of my students hungrily absorbing the stories in Nervous along with the stories in Maxine Hong Kingston’s The Woman Warrior and Cathy Park Hong’s Minor Feelings… Nervous has instantly joined the crucial works of Asian American literature and the newly teeming space of American literature as a whole. A brilliant reckoning … Though it is steeped in pain, Nervous is nevertheless a testament of exultant embodiment–of woundedness and remedy, of memory and history, of disruption and coalition, of diaspora and belonging.” – Rick Barot, author of The Galleons and Chord

“Jen Soriano’s debut…dissects transgenerational trauma. Drawing upon science, history and memory, Soriano illuminates the connection between mind and body, telling a story of living with mental illness with stunning, poetic prose.” – San Francisco Chronicle

“This book is such a gift! Part medical history, part lyrical memoir, Jen Soriano traces the rivers and tributaries of her pain, becoming fluent in the language of her body. Nervous: Essays on Heritage and Healing is a revelation for every person who has been silenced, neglected, and made to feel unworthy of care. Luminous and tender, Nervous is not your conventional trauma narrative.” – Alice Wong, founder of the Disability Visibility Project and author of Year of the Tiger

“I couldn’t put it down. This book brings light to the dark tunnels of history that live in our bodies. I wish for all mental health, social services, and wellness practitioners to read Nervous.” – Dr. Leny Mendoza Strobel, author of Coming Full Circle and editor of Babaylan: Filipinos and the Call of the Indigenous

“Nervous is the epitome of innovation. In this painfully glorious essay collection, Jen Soriano illuminates the ways Filipinos have been mistreated and oppressed by a multitude of systems, both in colonial times and in the present. That is the best of what a collection can do: giving voice to the silent corners we’ve been forced into. Nervous accomplishes that and much more–a true literary achievement.” – Evette Dionne, award-winning author of Lifting As We Climb and Weightless

“Soriano’s elegant prose and imaginative approaches to form propel the text smoothly between disparate topics….a deeply felt narrative….A cerebral Asian American memoir about the complexity of inherited pain.” – Kirkus Reviews

“Validating and illuminating, this book is a balm to those of who were born ‘nervous.’” – Glamour

“Candid and original, this collection addresses transgenerational trauma and healing using science, history and memoir. In it, Soriano lyrically reflects on the nervous among us and brings new understanding to the liberatory power of naming, uncovering and healing.” – Ms. magazine

”[A] searing book that doesn’t shy away from exploring the most intimate of topics….Soriano powerfully meditates on both pain and healing.” – Time

”[A] riveting account of how the violence of war and colonization manifest in a descendant’s nervous system.” – Boston Globe

“Jen Soriano’s memoir is a book worth reading.” – International Examiner

Jen Soriano (she/they) is a writer and movement builder who has long worked at the intersection of grassroots organizing, narrative strategy, and art-driven social change. She has won the Penelope C. Niven Prize for Creative Nonfiction, the Fugue Prose Prize, and fellowships from Hugo House, Vermont Studio Center, Artist Trust, and Jack Jones Literary Arts. Soriano is also an independent scholar and performer, author of the chapbook Making the Tongue Dry, and coeditor of Closer to Liberation: Pin[a/x]y Activism in Theory and Practice. She received a BA in history and science from Harvard University and an MFA in fiction and nonfiction from the Rainier Writing Workshop. Originally from a landlocked part of the Chicago area, Soriano now lives with her family in Seattle near the Duwamish River and the Salish Sea.