This collection is divided into three sections. The first opens with the speaker's reflections on her childhood loss of her father and subsequent move to a new house and a new life, a life in which she is always alert to the absences and danger but also a life in which she begins to see language as a kind of salvation. This section also develops the speaker's first knowledge of sex, primarily in the poems, "The Goose Girl" and "A Woman Was Raped Here." The second section follows the speaker into adolescence and young adulthood, and these poems further explore the sexual violence in the world in which the speaker lives, and how this violence affects her own feelings toward sex and romantic love. In the third section, the book finds love, work, and family, and the poems in this section about motherhood echo back to the first section as the speaker's own parenting is influenced by how difficult it is to love when you know people die.

"Poetic, insightful, and deeply moving. David Means is one of my very favorite writers." —Tara Westover, author of Educated Following the publication of his widely acclaimed, Man Booker-nominated novel Hystopia, David Means here returns to his signature form: the short story. Thanks to his four previous story collections, Means has won himself an international reputation as one of the most innovative short fiction writers working today: an “established master of the form.” (Laura Miller, The Guardian). Instructions for a Funeral—featuring work from The New Yorker, Harper’s, The Paris Review, and VICE—finds Means branching out beyond the explorations of violence and trauma with which he is often identified, prominently displaying his sly humor and his inimitable way of telling tales that deliciously wind up to punch the reader in the heart. With each story Means pushes into new territory, writing with tenderness and compassion about fatherhood, marriage, a homeless brother, the nature of addiction, and the death of a friend at the hands of a serial-killer nurse. Means transmutes a fistfight in Sacramento into a tender, life-long love story; two FBI agents on a stakeout in the 1920s into a tale of predator and prey, paternal urges and loss; a man’s funeral instructions into a chronicle of organized crime, real estate ventures, and the destructive force of paranoia. Means’s work has earned him comparisons to Flannery O’Connor, Alice Munro, Sherwood Anderson, Denis Johnson, Edgar Allan Poe, Anton Chekhov, and Raymond Carver but his place in the American literary landscape is fully and originally his own. "David Means is a master of tense, distilled, quintessentially American prose. Like any artist who has finely honed his talent to its strongest expression he is a brilliant craftsman whose achievement is to appear unstudied, even casual . . . Each story by Means which I have read is unlike the others, unexpected and an unnerving delight." —Joyce Carol Oates

We wrote this outline so you can write your story. It is difficult for many people to discuss the logistics associated with dying. It is sometimes challenging for people to articulate thoughts and memories which have defined their life. The sheer overwhelming nature of grief can make it hard for those left behind to navigate the aftermath of a loved one passing on. This book has been designed to facilitate people being able to clearly set out what should happen after they die. And what they think about life. And anything else they happen to want to say.The sections include: The immediate aftermath; My life and legacy; Treasured memories, Thanks and Things; Nuts and bolts; Notes, quotes and thoughts.The purpose of the book is to prompt people to leave a blueprint for their relatives. But it does more than that. It invites each writer to share with people who will have access to the book, additional insights into their life. Those who were loved, reflections on achievements and challenges, and observations on issues of consequence and importance. The book can be as detailed or as broad as the writer dictates. It can be as intimate or general as suits its author. It can be as serious or funny according to the personality of the individual in control of this intimate literary journey.This book is not a legal document and doesn't take the place of a will.

My MotherÕs Funeral circles around the death of the authorÕs mother, but what also emerges is a landscape of personal loss and pain, of innocence, humor, violence and beauty. Drawing heavily upon her childhood experiences and Colombian heritage, P‡ramo describes the volatile bond linking mothers and daughters in a culture largely unknown to Americans. The book moves between past (Colombia in the 1940s) and present lives, and maps scenes both geographical (Bogot‡, Medell’n, Anchorage) as well as psychological--ultimately revealing the indomitable spirit of the women in her family. Especially from P‡ramoÕs mother the reader learns what it means to be a Colombian woman.

When her mother received a terminal hospice diagnosis just two weeks before their planned move to a new house, far from familiar surroundings, Loretta Fox was unprepared for the challenges ahead. Balancing the demands of around-the-clock care for her difficult yet sweet mother with the upheaval of an out-of-state move, Loretta also had to set up a home that could accommodate everyone’s needs, including their emotional baggage. Walk Her Up the Stairs is a memoir interwoven with poetry written during the author’s time caring for her dying mother. It gives voice to the complex and often unspoken emotions experienced by many caregivers. This candid and touching account reflects on the tumultuous yet ultimately bonding journey between mother and daughter. Through her caregiving, Loretta discovers an unexpected skill in Spirit Mediumship, which becomes a source of profound healing. The memoir explores Spirit Mediumship with clear descriptions and includes basics on both receiving and giving Spirit Readings. With a background as a former hospice worker, a master’s degree in Religious Studies, and as a practicing Spirit Medium, Loretta Fox offers a unique perspective. Her story aims to inspire fellow caregivers, comfort those grieving, intrigue individuals curious about Spirit Mediumship, and resonate with anyone who has navigated a challenging mother-child relationship.

Rita MacNeil has long been recognized as one of the East Coast's great singer-songwriters. As a young girl with the dream of becoming a singer, she overcame a series of seemingly insurmountable obstacles and achieved success by believing in herself and refusing to give up. A trailblazer, Rita played an integral role in the women's movement in Canada and forged a path that was unique to her, paving the way for future generations of east coast musicians. Charlie Rhindress first came to know Rita as he collaborated with her on his play Flying on Her Own, incorporating more than twenty of her songs into a script that told the story of her life. For this new biography, Rhindress did extensive research and interviewed many of the people who worked with her and knew her best. The story of a strong, sensitive, complex woman emerged and the result is a powerful and moving portrait of a unique woman and important artist of her times.

Inspired by the website that the New York Times hailed as "redefining mourning," this book is a fresh and irreverent examination into navigating grief and resilience in the age of social media, offering comfort and community for coping with the mess of loss through candid original essays from a variety of voices, accompanied by gorgeous two-color illustrations and wry infographics. At a time when we mourn public figures and national tragedies with hashtags, where intimate posts about loss go viral and we receive automated birthday reminders for dead friends, it’s clear we are navigating new terrain without a road map. Let’s face it: most of us have always had a difficult time talking about death and sharing our grief. We’re awkward and uncertain; we avoid, ignore, or even deny feelings of sadness; we offer platitudes; we send sympathy bouquets whittled out of fruit. Enter Rebecca Soffer and Gabrielle Birkner, who can help us do better. Each having lost parents as young adults, they co-founded Modern Loss, responding to a need to change the dialogue around the messy experience of grief. Now, in this wise and often funny book, they offer the insights of the Modern Loss community to help us cry, laugh, grieve, identify, and—above all—empathize. Soffer and Birkner, along with forty guest contributors including Lucy Kalanithi, singer Amanda Palmer, and CNN’s Brian Stelter, reveal their own stories on a wide range of topics including triggers, sex, secrets, and inheritance. Accompanied by beautiful hand-drawn illustrations and witty "how to" cartoons, each contribution provides a unique perspective on loss as well as a remarkable life-affirming message. Brutally honest and inspiring, Modern Loss invites us to talk intimately and humorously about grief, helping us confront the humanity (and mortality) we all share. Beginners welcome.