Reading the Waves

‘[A] quicksilver, expansive exploration of grief and hauntings.’

‘Electrifying … Yuknavitch is a literary renegade.’

‘The book empowers us to consider: When we look back at our pasts, how comfortable are we with seeing who we really were and embracing that version of ourself, however flawed? Perhaps more important, how do we shed the parts of us we no longer find useful to become something new?’

‘Reading the Waves dives deep into Yuknavitch’s history with violence and trauma to deliver a resonate message of storytelling’s power to reframe our memories and shape our future. Perfect for readers and writers alike, this memoir is a testament to our ability to learn and heal through the stories we choose to tell.’

‘Stunning, genre-bending self-portrait … With a fiercely feminist outlook and moody, evocative prose that never tilts into preciousness, Yuknavitch delivers a gorgeous ode to the grunt work of self-discovery. It’s a major achievement.’

‘A noted writer and teacher explores the uses of memoir to recast and heal the wounds of the past… [Reading the Waves is] full of the messy, moving, in-your-face inspiration and storytelling for which Yuknavitch is beloved.’

‘Yuknavitch is a lighthouse, strobing her insistent truth across any distance. I have learned so much from her about storytelling, survival, and the ways that tenderness and strength are siblings. I’ll read anything she writes.’

Lidia Yuknavitch is the bestselling author of the novels Thrust, The Book of Joan, The Small Backs of Children, and Dora: A Headcase, and of the memoirs The Chronology of Water and Reading the Waves. She is the recipient of two Oregon Book Awards and has been a finalist for the Brooklyn Public Library Literary Prize and the PEN Center USA Creative Nonfiction Award. She lives in Portland, Oregon.

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