Editorial Outtakes is a series in which we publish excerpts from recent books that you won’t find anywhere else because, prior the publication, these sections were cut. This installment of Editorial Outtakes features writer Mike Scalise, author of The Brand New Catastrophe, reflecting on some of the particularities of revealing character details in nonfiction. Given that we all grow up (and, presumably, learn a lot about ourselves and the world around us), how does a writer of memoir go about … [Read more...] about Editorial Outtakes: Mike Scalise
illness
The Solidarity of Fat Girls
It is your luck to be the brother of three fat girls. They have insisted on the moniker. “We are fat girls,” Elsie has told you. “If you don’t accept it, who will?” “Don’t say that,” you have replied, hopelessly. “You’re beautiful,” and she has kissed your forehead wetly, like an aunt—she is thirteen years your senior; she relishes that word girls—and said, “Exactly.” Elsie is the fattest of the three fat sisters. She once tried to be a plus-sized model, but size 18 was too large, so … [Read more...] about The Solidarity of Fat Girls