Scarsdale
A journey of healing and self-discovery
Format:Paperback
Publisher:CB Editions
Published:15th Nov '14
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
In Scarsdale, Dan O'Brien shares his journey of overcoming trauma and seeking freedom from his past while navigating complex relationships.
In Scarsdale, Dan O'Brien reflects on his early life with the same candidness and depth that characterized his acclaimed work, War Reporter. His upbringing in a family marked by trauma creates a profound backdrop for his journey. The narrative explores O'Brien's attempts to break free from the constraints of his past and the emotional complexities that arise from his relationships, particularly with himself and a young stray he encounters. This connection symbolizes his desire for liberation and understanding amidst the chaos of his upbringing.
As O'Brien navigates his experiences, he finds himself drawn back to the very environment he tried to leave behind. The pull of his origins is strong, and the struggle between seeking freedom and confronting his past is a central theme throughout Scarsdale. The author’s honesty allows readers to witness his internal battles and the moments of clarity that lead him toward self-discovery.
Gradually, Scarsdale reveals pathways for lasting change, highlighting the resilience of the human spirit. O'Brien's narrative is not just a personal memoir; it serves as a poignant exploration of healing and the complexities of love. Through his journey, readers are invited to reflect on their own pasts and the possibility of transformation, making this book a compelling read for anyone seeking understanding and connection.
‘Dan O’Brien’s poems are powerful and stripped down, but they expand in the mind long after they’ve been read. As in War Reporter, O’Brien captures the reflective gentleness that exists amid the damage of experience, and survives it.’ – Patrick McGuinness
‘Dan O’Brien’s direct and sometimes stark but never simplistic poems explore the difficult complexities of boyhood, and growing up, and growing older. The painful loveliness of O’Brien’s language reveals the confusions and aspirations of the self, and the self among others, and the perilous world beyond the self.’ – Lawrence Raab
‘Moving through his American childhood into adulthood, through a wide world shattered by broken people, he finds redemption everywhere and it’s a gift to his readers. O’Brien supplies the satisfactions of a rare imagination at work, a poet who has taken risks, exposing his deep anxieties, finding himself again and again.’ – Jay Parini
‘Slowly, steadily, Scarsdale draws you into its world, so full of suffering and cruelty and yet a strange kind of hope and by the end even catharsis … O’Brien must be commended for his great bravery in releasing these poems into the world.’ – Jeremy Gordon, The Quietus
‘Scarsdale is a masterclass in how to engage with memory and make of it something honest, an individual story yet also something universal.’ – Andrea Porter, Ink Sweat and Tears
ISBN: 9781909585027
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: unknown
96 pages