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Alone Together: Love, Grief, and Comfort in the Time of COVID-19
ALONE TOGETHER: Love, Grief, and Comfort During the Time of COVID-19 is a collection of essays, poems, and interviews to serve as a lifeline for negotiating how to connect and thrive during this stressful time of isolation as well as a historical perspective that will remain relevant for years to come. All contributing authors and business partners are donating their share to The Book Industry Charitable Foundation, a nonprofit organization that coordinates charitable programs to strengthen the bookselling community.
The roster of diverse voices includes Faith Adiele, Kwame Alexander, Jenna Blum, Andre Dubus III, Jamie Ford, Nikki Giovanni, Pam Houston, Jean Kwok, Major Jackson, Devi S. Laskar, Caroline Leavitt, Ada Limón, Dani Shapiro, David Sheff, Garth Stein, Luis Alberto Urrea, Steve Yarbrough, and Lidia Yuknavitch.
ALONE TOGETHER is divided into five sections: What Now?, Grieve, Comfort, Connect, And Don't Stop. The overarching theme is how this age of isolation and uncertainty is changing us as individuals and a society.
The roster of diverse voices includes Faith Adiele, Kwame Alexander, Jenna Blum, Andre Dubus III, Jamie Ford, Nikki Giovanni, Pam Houston, Jean Kwok, Major Jackson, Devi S. Laskar, Caroline Leavitt, Ada Limón, Dani Shapiro, David Sheff, Garth Stein, Luis Alberto Urrea, Steve Yarbrough, and Lidia Yuknavitch.
ALONE TOGETHER is divided into five sections: What Now?, Grieve, Comfort, Connect, And Don't Stop. The overarching theme is how this age of isolation and uncertainty is changing us as individuals and a society.
288 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 2020
About the author
Garth Stein
22 books4,542 followersGarth Stein is the author of four novels: the New York Times bestselling gothic/historical/coming-of-age/ghost story, "A Sudden Light"; the internationally bestselling "The Art of Racing in the Rain"; the PNBA Book Award winner, "How Evan Broke His Head and Other Secrets"; and the magically realistic "Raven Stole the Moon." He is also the author of the stage play "Brother Jones." He has a dog, he's raced a few cars, climbed a bunch of really tall trees, made a few documentary films, and he lives in Seattle with his family. He's co-founder of Seattle7Writers.org, a non-profit collective of 74 Northwest authors working together to energize the reading and writing public.
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September 2, 2020
Update: just sharing... This book went on sale today!!!!
All profits are donated to independent book sellers.
5+++++ Stars
It really ‘did’ take a village to create this book......
The humanity of this project moves me!!!!
I LOVE THIS BOOK!!!!
Review soon! UPDATE:
...A seed was planted....
....A brilliant idea.....from Jennifer Haupt, author of
“In The Shadow of 10,000 Hills”, ( incredible historical novel by the way), is the Editor of “Alone Together”.
She tells us.....
“I started by putting out feelers, posting on Facebook and sending emails to authors I knew through my work as a journalist and novelist. I made a concrete, to-the-point ask: Could they contribute an essay or poem about their COVID-19 experiences to a fundraising anthology for struggling indi booksellers? Within twenty-four hours, dozens of authors or on board".
The minute I learned of this literay project, (benefiting independent booksellers), I was on board to read it!!!
Ninety-one authors from diverse cultures, and backgrounds (68 in the print book, 22 in the ebook), contributed to
‘Alone Together’....
Love, Grief, and Comfort in the time of COVID-19.
Proceeds from this book are donated to Book Industry Charitable Foundation (Binc).
All contributors, and business Partners donated their time, talent, and effort.
I LOVE THIS BOOK...it’s purpose, the community of writers (and readers), coming together, reflecting on our covid-19 pandemic human experiences, ( my thought - at the end of this anthology gem: READERS SHOULD WRITE THEIR EXPERIENCE: means I need to put my own pen to paper, too),
And....
I loved the pure joy of getting to learn about authors whose work I didn’t know...[I LOOKED UP *EVERY* AUTHOR...ones I knew and ones I didn’t...MARKED MANY BOOKS TO READ.]....
and....
Best of all....this book was comforting to me, fulfilling on many levels.
It’s painful to deal realities we would rather avoid....but all these varied, diverse authors faced their challenges with courage, grace, clarity, and wisdom....and I’d like to think that I joined them too.
This book is meaningful, important (makes a monetary and heartfelt difference) and its an important path to healing ourselves and finding peace.
The rest of this review will highlight a few tidbits from some of the contributors — but I treasured EVERY SINGLE submission....with feelings of pride.....
And/ or general themes....
In “Ghost Town”, by Scott James (a computer science professor at Stanford University) wrote an uplifting tale about Banana Bread, and delivery his baked bread to students who were stuck isolated in their dorms. His red-haired Boston Terrier came along, too.....
putting social distancing smiles on students faces. ( me too)....
Another part of his story ( one I know too well myself from having worked in San Francisco for a few years...and being a Bay Area native),....was heartbreaking.
Scott and his partner live in the Castro district of San Francisco ( an area in recent years that has seen a heavy toll - but once a very lively area)....
Then came the lockdown.
“Those who remained outside were those who were already there—the unhoused, addicted, and mentally ill. The city’s failure to intercede over the course of plentiful years was now on display”.
Crime, decline, and corruption mismanagement needed to be examined and reformed before COVID-19....,
The “apocalyptic— mentally disturbed people —some covered in feces, wandered and shouted at invisible demons. These were human beings, not fictional zombies. Still, officials didn’t help”.
Then came rifles, pistols, and handcuffs.
Scott James emotional story - of smiles & sadness - left a permanent impression on my heart.
“Feeding My Heart and Soul”
by Andrea King Collier
Collier a covid-19 new food warrior, gave me a whole new context about grocery shopping.....and face-mask-wearing connecting.
“Who knew that old-school shopping would be an act of resistance against a very dangerous virus, but also an act that reminds me of my Black family pride and traditions?”
I loved her ‘entire’ story
“I’m going to say this as an optimist, and also as a realist:
we’ll get through this and be smarter, stronger, and more grateful because of it. Grateful for books, writing, and art making, but most of all—for the freedom to gather and share these creations, together”.
.... an excerpt from Kevin Sampsell, from his essay called “Books On Pause”
“SAME”
by Jamie Ford
“As a writer, I wear an old bathrobe, all day”......
Together. Stuck inside, every day’s a snow day.
But I’m not lonely, not even a bit.
‘Cause we’re a pack of introverts,
And every night we howl like wolves”.
David Sheff had a conversation with our editor: Jennifer Haupt
I love ‘everything’....David Sheff...and what he stands for ( author of “A Beautiful Boy”).... I could write my own book about the difference he made in my own life. His conversation with Jennifer was powerful.
I’m also holding back sharing their interview/ dialogue, but I’m tempted to highlight the whole darn thing.
Here’s a ‘small’ excerpt: ( there is more where this came from)
“We can get depressed about the pandemic and systematic racism, but like parents whose kids die of addiction who become activist, our grief can lead to action”.
“Sibling Estrangement And Social Distancing”
by Caroline Leavitt
“The words in the email punched my heart. You’re dead to me, my sister says. I despise you. I hope you feel the pain you keep causing me”.
“I’m still sure I can fix whatever has gone wrong between us. Just give me time, I think, but now, with the pandemic, there is no time. Contact with my sister is more important to me than ever. Except it’s still not important to her”.
“I want her to still care about me, because for that not to be true feels unbearable, like a kind of death. It hurts, it hurts, it hurts”.
“In The Bathtub”
by Jenna Blum
I loved her essay. I was reminded that when you’re at your wits end, and want to pull your hair out.... how blessed we are to have a good friend to remind us to eat, to exercise, to read, to write, to listen to music, to take a ‘fricken-warm-bath’.
Maybe??? while soaking naked - ( the good friend will try not to imagine you naked)... but will read a beautiful poem - over the phone - to you ‘while’ in the tub.
Stephen P. Kiernan.... ( another author I must read)....
was that ‘great friend’ to Jenna.
I love them both!!!
“Lavender And The Washing Away Of Civilization”
by Roberto Lovato [new author to me]
His father is almost 98 years of age. He suffers from dementia.
“Next to Pop’s recliner is a glass table with water, candies from his native El Salvador, and one of my most important tools for coping with COVID-19 and the civilizational crises it has exposed: lavender”.
When Roberto visited El Salvador in the late 80s and early 90s, during the Civil War that left 80,000 dead, most of them murdered by the US-backer government, he brought lavender cream from a shop in San Francisco. The cream soothed his skin and calmed his nerves after seeing the effects of bombings and strafing an innocent civilians, including children”.
Wow.... I was very impressed- sad too - by the story Roberto submitted.
He has a memoir called “Unforgetting” is coming out in September.... that I want to read.
“Pandemic Date Night”
by Sommer Browning and David Shields
Hilarious - bad movie - “if we make it through this movie together, our bond is unbreakable”, ( Eyes Wide Shut), date night!!! Very funny!
“S. O. S.”
by Greg Colucci
A heart-aching story!
Greg tested positive for HIV/AIDS in 1993.
His building was created in 1994, through the copy of AIDS housing.
Most of the residents are seniors — with Covid-19- once again they are facing the terror of death.
Everyone in the building needed help: supplies, masks, food. They ‘had’ to stay isolated. They still do.
Thankfully people from the Facebook community were offering support.
Greg lives with HIV and Huntington’s Disease. He is an elder in his community - in San Francisco- and plans to publish more writing.
Andre Dubus III
I learned a fun little tidbit about Andre Dubus III....( author and professor),
he lives forty miles north of Boston in a house, in the woods, that he and his brother built with their own hands fifteen years ago.
He also shared that his brother-in-law and his wife, both in their seventies, had the coronavirus.
Andre also shared that things going consistently well for him, was like living in a foreign country. ( background story which he shares will explain why).
Andre Dubus III was a son of a single mother and had grown up in poverty. He also had a violent youth.
The story Andre submitted - about love, family, friends, and community was ‘so-moving’!!!
He also wrote about feeling more at home when things are “perilous” ( his chosen word), than when all is wonderful.
I found his essay soooooo touching!!
Other things....
Zooming, googling, hangouting, FaceTiming, groaning, crying, laughing, socially distanced, six-feet-apart, our faces armored with masks, isolation, uncertainty, cooking, walking, knitting, quilting art projects, cleaning, gardening, eating, TV, podcasts, phone calls, texting, too much news watching,
And....
Call your mother for god’s sake.....
Signs on lawns thanking our doctors and nurses and essential workers
And what about hugs? we cannot, can we?
Stay safe we say.
Stay healthy.
Many more powerful contributions....
Garth Stein, Ada Limon, Dani Shapiro, Lidia Yuknavitch, Kwame Alexander, Robin Black, Dinty Moore, Gina Frangello, N.L.Shompole,
Claudia Castro Luna, Devi S. Laskar, Lise Haines, Jennifer Rosner, Luis Alberto Urrea, Steve Yarbrough, Elizabeth Rosner, Alistair Bane, Jennifer Haupt, .....and more.
Big -BIG - thank you to Jennifer Haupt for providing me with this book!
I’d love to give dozens of the physical book away!
And....I hope “Alone Together” makes a substantial profit
Comes out September 1st, 2020.
A book ( I’d suggest the physical book), worth buying- one for yourself - another to someone you care about.
All profits are donated to independent book sellers.
5+++++ Stars
It really ‘did’ take a village to create this book......
The humanity of this project moves me!!!!
I LOVE THIS BOOK!!!!
Review soon! UPDATE:
...A seed was planted....
....A brilliant idea.....from Jennifer Haupt, author of
“In The Shadow of 10,000 Hills”, ( incredible historical novel by the way), is the Editor of “Alone Together”.
She tells us.....
“I started by putting out feelers, posting on Facebook and sending emails to authors I knew through my work as a journalist and novelist. I made a concrete, to-the-point ask: Could they contribute an essay or poem about their COVID-19 experiences to a fundraising anthology for struggling indi booksellers? Within twenty-four hours, dozens of authors or on board".
The minute I learned of this literay project, (benefiting independent booksellers), I was on board to read it!!!
Ninety-one authors from diverse cultures, and backgrounds (68 in the print book, 22 in the ebook), contributed to
‘Alone Together’....
Love, Grief, and Comfort in the time of COVID-19.
Proceeds from this book are donated to Book Industry Charitable Foundation (Binc).
All contributors, and business Partners donated their time, talent, and effort.
I LOVE THIS BOOK...it’s purpose, the community of writers (and readers), coming together, reflecting on our covid-19 pandemic human experiences, ( my thought - at the end of this anthology gem: READERS SHOULD WRITE THEIR EXPERIENCE: means I need to put my own pen to paper, too),
And....
I loved the pure joy of getting to learn about authors whose work I didn’t know...[I LOOKED UP *EVERY* AUTHOR...ones I knew and ones I didn’t...MARKED MANY BOOKS TO READ.]....
and....
Best of all....this book was comforting to me, fulfilling on many levels.
It’s painful to deal realities we would rather avoid....but all these varied, diverse authors faced their challenges with courage, grace, clarity, and wisdom....and I’d like to think that I joined them too.
This book is meaningful, important (makes a monetary and heartfelt difference) and its an important path to healing ourselves and finding peace.
The rest of this review will highlight a few tidbits from some of the contributors — but I treasured EVERY SINGLE submission....with feelings of pride.....
And/ or general themes....
In “Ghost Town”, by Scott James (a computer science professor at Stanford University) wrote an uplifting tale about Banana Bread, and delivery his baked bread to students who were stuck isolated in their dorms. His red-haired Boston Terrier came along, too.....
putting social distancing smiles on students faces. ( me too)....
Another part of his story ( one I know too well myself from having worked in San Francisco for a few years...and being a Bay Area native),....was heartbreaking.
Scott and his partner live in the Castro district of San Francisco ( an area in recent years that has seen a heavy toll - but once a very lively area)....
Then came the lockdown.
“Those who remained outside were those who were already there—the unhoused, addicted, and mentally ill. The city’s failure to intercede over the course of plentiful years was now on display”.
Crime, decline, and corruption mismanagement needed to be examined and reformed before COVID-19....,
The “apocalyptic— mentally disturbed people —some covered in feces, wandered and shouted at invisible demons. These were human beings, not fictional zombies. Still, officials didn’t help”.
Then came rifles, pistols, and handcuffs.
Scott James emotional story - of smiles & sadness - left a permanent impression on my heart.
“Feeding My Heart and Soul”
by Andrea King Collier
Collier a covid-19 new food warrior, gave me a whole new context about grocery shopping.....and face-mask-wearing connecting.
“Who knew that old-school shopping would be an act of resistance against a very dangerous virus, but also an act that reminds me of my Black family pride and traditions?”
I loved her ‘entire’ story
“I’m going to say this as an optimist, and also as a realist:
we’ll get through this and be smarter, stronger, and more grateful because of it. Grateful for books, writing, and art making, but most of all—for the freedom to gather and share these creations, together”.
.... an excerpt from Kevin Sampsell, from his essay called “Books On Pause”
“SAME”
by Jamie Ford
“As a writer, I wear an old bathrobe, all day”......
Together. Stuck inside, every day’s a snow day.
But I’m not lonely, not even a bit.
‘Cause we’re a pack of introverts,
And every night we howl like wolves”.
David Sheff had a conversation with our editor: Jennifer Haupt
I love ‘everything’....David Sheff...and what he stands for ( author of “A Beautiful Boy”).... I could write my own book about the difference he made in my own life. His conversation with Jennifer was powerful.
I’m also holding back sharing their interview/ dialogue, but I’m tempted to highlight the whole darn thing.
Here’s a ‘small’ excerpt: ( there is more where this came from)
“We can get depressed about the pandemic and systematic racism, but like parents whose kids die of addiction who become activist, our grief can lead to action”.
“Sibling Estrangement And Social Distancing”
by Caroline Leavitt
“The words in the email punched my heart. You’re dead to me, my sister says. I despise you. I hope you feel the pain you keep causing me”.
“I’m still sure I can fix whatever has gone wrong between us. Just give me time, I think, but now, with the pandemic, there is no time. Contact with my sister is more important to me than ever. Except it’s still not important to her”.
“I want her to still care about me, because for that not to be true feels unbearable, like a kind of death. It hurts, it hurts, it hurts”.
“In The Bathtub”
by Jenna Blum
I loved her essay. I was reminded that when you’re at your wits end, and want to pull your hair out.... how blessed we are to have a good friend to remind us to eat, to exercise, to read, to write, to listen to music, to take a ‘fricken-warm-bath’.
Maybe??? while soaking naked - ( the good friend will try not to imagine you naked)... but will read a beautiful poem - over the phone - to you ‘while’ in the tub.
Stephen P. Kiernan.... ( another author I must read)....
was that ‘great friend’ to Jenna.
I love them both!!!
“Lavender And The Washing Away Of Civilization”
by Roberto Lovato [new author to me]
His father is almost 98 years of age. He suffers from dementia.
“Next to Pop’s recliner is a glass table with water, candies from his native El Salvador, and one of my most important tools for coping with COVID-19 and the civilizational crises it has exposed: lavender”.
When Roberto visited El Salvador in the late 80s and early 90s, during the Civil War that left 80,000 dead, most of them murdered by the US-backer government, he brought lavender cream from a shop in San Francisco. The cream soothed his skin and calmed his nerves after seeing the effects of bombings and strafing an innocent civilians, including children”.
Wow.... I was very impressed- sad too - by the story Roberto submitted.
He has a memoir called “Unforgetting” is coming out in September.... that I want to read.
“Pandemic Date Night”
by Sommer Browning and David Shields
Hilarious - bad movie - “if we make it through this movie together, our bond is unbreakable”, ( Eyes Wide Shut), date night!!! Very funny!
“S. O. S.”
by Greg Colucci
A heart-aching story!
Greg tested positive for HIV/AIDS in 1993.
His building was created in 1994, through the copy of AIDS housing.
Most of the residents are seniors — with Covid-19- once again they are facing the terror of death.
Everyone in the building needed help: supplies, masks, food. They ‘had’ to stay isolated. They still do.
Thankfully people from the Facebook community were offering support.
Greg lives with HIV and Huntington’s Disease. He is an elder in his community - in San Francisco- and plans to publish more writing.
Andre Dubus III
I learned a fun little tidbit about Andre Dubus III....( author and professor),
he lives forty miles north of Boston in a house, in the woods, that he and his brother built with their own hands fifteen years ago.
He also shared that his brother-in-law and his wife, both in their seventies, had the coronavirus.
Andre also shared that things going consistently well for him, was like living in a foreign country. ( background story which he shares will explain why).
Andre Dubus III was a son of a single mother and had grown up in poverty. He also had a violent youth.
The story Andre submitted - about love, family, friends, and community was ‘so-moving’!!!
He also wrote about feeling more at home when things are “perilous” ( his chosen word), than when all is wonderful.
I found his essay soooooo touching!!
Other things....
Zooming, googling, hangouting, FaceTiming, groaning, crying, laughing, socially distanced, six-feet-apart, our faces armored with masks, isolation, uncertainty, cooking, walking, knitting, quilting art projects, cleaning, gardening, eating, TV, podcasts, phone calls, texting, too much news watching,
And....
Call your mother for god’s sake.....
Signs on lawns thanking our doctors and nurses and essential workers
And what about hugs? we cannot, can we?
Stay safe we say.
Stay healthy.
Many more powerful contributions....
Garth Stein, Ada Limon, Dani Shapiro, Lidia Yuknavitch, Kwame Alexander, Robin Black, Dinty Moore, Gina Frangello, N.L.Shompole,
Claudia Castro Luna, Devi S. Laskar, Lise Haines, Jennifer Rosner, Luis Alberto Urrea, Steve Yarbrough, Elizabeth Rosner, Alistair Bane, Jennifer Haupt, .....and more.
Big -BIG - thank you to Jennifer Haupt for providing me with this book!
I’d love to give dozens of the physical book away!
And....I hope “Alone Together” makes a substantial profit
Comes out September 1st, 2020.
A book ( I’d suggest the physical book), worth buying- one for yourself - another to someone you care about.
August 1, 2020
We are experiencing an unprecedented time. A time, a trial of so many things out of our control. Yet, as this book makes very clear, we are not experiencing it alone.
Interviews, poems, essays by some favored authors, as well as some new to me authors, describe their own experiences, feeling of this time. All the things we feel, not knowing what day it is, yearning for the chance to hug, see a loved one, fear of what will be left when, if this is ever over, are all things we share. There are humorous things, one authors husband who was a germophobe before Covid, now is thrilled that he can use as much bleach as he wants. There are sad things, things to comfort, things to ponder, honest, feelings expressed.
Positive things, such as the beneficial effect on the environment. Using nature as a solace, a way to heal connect. It's what I've been using, that and occasional family visits. The book did leave me with a feeling of connection and showed me that even the funky feeling I can't shake, is normal and I'm not alone.
ARC from Netgalley.
Interviews, poems, essays by some favored authors, as well as some new to me authors, describe their own experiences, feeling of this time. All the things we feel, not knowing what day it is, yearning for the chance to hug, see a loved one, fear of what will be left when, if this is ever over, are all things we share. There are humorous things, one authors husband who was a germophobe before Covid, now is thrilled that he can use as much bleach as he wants. There are sad things, things to comfort, things to ponder, honest, feelings expressed.
Positive things, such as the beneficial effect on the environment. Using nature as a solace, a way to heal connect. It's what I've been using, that and occasional family visits. The book did leave me with a feeling of connection and showed me that even the funky feeling I can't shake, is normal and I'm not alone.
ARC from Netgalley.
July 28, 2020
First and foremost, a large thank you to NetGalley, Jennifer Haupt (editor), and Central Avenue Publishing for providing me with a copy of this publication, which allows me to provide you with an unbiased review.
The emergence of COVID-19 hit everyone in different ways. Some people struggled to understand what was going on around the world, while others panicked about how they would make a living. Jennifer Haupt capitalised on these varying sentiments and found a number of collaborators around the United States to share some of their feelings and thoughts about COVID-19 in its many forms. She collected these poems, interviews, journal entries, and essays into this collection, hoping to offer a life line to many who might feel completely alone (or those curious to see how others were coping). Additionally, she knew the importance of the written word and how it can only make it out there with strong go-betweens. While the internet is full of communication highways, many still love the idea of a book in hand and so Haupt sought to use sales of this collection to support booksellers, the essential lifeblood of the author and poet that connects them with the reading public. Within this collection, there are those who contribute and share what one might expect when discussing a pandemic; health and symptoms that appear to come out of nowhere. The reader will see how various people react when a cough turns into ‘lungs like cement’ and the ability to stay away becomes too much to handle. Other contributors talk about the isolation that forced social distancing has left the world, where there is no sense of personal interaction and relationships become about speaking to a screen. Still others talk about the struggles of being stuck behind a mask, covering who they are and how. their personalities cannot grow. COVID-19 not only created threads of alienation and self-panic, it forced the world to take notice of things that may not have been more than a blip on the screen. With little else to do but watch the news and read reports in newspapers, social movements actually rose to the forefront and were fuelled by those who bounded together, no longer too busy with work or life. Haupt’s various contributors talked about this as well, a positive that came out of so much panic and concern. Be it staring up at the sky and wondering what others are feeling, eating one’s favourite snack and not caring about the nutritional information on the package, or watching a person grieve and not be able to touch them due to social distancing, people have taken the new realities of COVID-19 and made them their own. This book offers a flickering candle to show that the arts community, particularly the written arts, has not been extinguished, even with new rules. This collection explores how we may all feel alone in our own ways, but we are together in the struggle to define what is to come! Recommended to those who want to feel that sense of togetherness by understanding the written word’s power to unite!
I am a fiction or fact-based reader for the most part, so when I was asked to read this piece by Jennifer Haupt herself, I was not sure if it would be for me. I love books and I respect booksellers are an essential piece to the delivery of this, so I agreed, in hopes of getting others interested and supporting those who sell books. Admittedly, poetry does not usually prove to be something that brings me home sooner to explore sentiment or expression, but those contained within the pages of this book seemed to speak to me. I have emotions and do share them, though I am not one who usually flocks to books with a central tenet of discussing them. These poems spoke to me, they pulled me in and showed me that I, too, have felt some of these feelings over the past number of months. The essays and journal entries fascinated me, particularly by those who have faced the illness side of things head-on. I became even more curious when discussion of social movements came to the forefront, especially how lack of outside interaction allowed them to gain momentum with people stuck seeing the images and words before them with little else to do in their day. I suppose what I am trying to say here is that the collaborators in this book spoke to me in ways I did not expect and kept me wanting to know more. I felt as though I could actually engage in a small discussion with them about struggles, feelings, insights, worries, happiness on the other side of it, and curiosity about what the new ‘norm’ might become. Jennifer Haupt has chosen well with a great cross-section of people to contribute to this piece, each offering their own flavouring to this behemoth that has taken over our lives. Symbolically and literally, the world has been masked by rules and worry and uncertainty, but there is also hope, albeit slow and socially distance driven. Some of the entries are a handful of pages, while others barely fill a few lines. This mix leaves something for everyone and the reader can pick what works for them to heal, entertain, or engage. Whatever that might be, the themes that arise here are well sorted and keeps the reader thinking from the outset. A great piece that I can only hope unites as well as supports those who need it most. Refreshing in its delivery, I can admit that I was not expecting to enjoy this book as much as I did, but am glad I took the time to read it from cover to cover.
Kudos, Madam Haupt and all your collaborators, for opening my eyes to the various aspects of this pandemic!
Love/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/
A Book for All Seasons, a different sort of Book Challenge: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...
The emergence of COVID-19 hit everyone in different ways. Some people struggled to understand what was going on around the world, while others panicked about how they would make a living. Jennifer Haupt capitalised on these varying sentiments and found a number of collaborators around the United States to share some of their feelings and thoughts about COVID-19 in its many forms. She collected these poems, interviews, journal entries, and essays into this collection, hoping to offer a life line to many who might feel completely alone (or those curious to see how others were coping). Additionally, she knew the importance of the written word and how it can only make it out there with strong go-betweens. While the internet is full of communication highways, many still love the idea of a book in hand and so Haupt sought to use sales of this collection to support booksellers, the essential lifeblood of the author and poet that connects them with the reading public. Within this collection, there are those who contribute and share what one might expect when discussing a pandemic; health and symptoms that appear to come out of nowhere. The reader will see how various people react when a cough turns into ‘lungs like cement’ and the ability to stay away becomes too much to handle. Other contributors talk about the isolation that forced social distancing has left the world, where there is no sense of personal interaction and relationships become about speaking to a screen. Still others talk about the struggles of being stuck behind a mask, covering who they are and how. their personalities cannot grow. COVID-19 not only created threads of alienation and self-panic, it forced the world to take notice of things that may not have been more than a blip on the screen. With little else to do but watch the news and read reports in newspapers, social movements actually rose to the forefront and were fuelled by those who bounded together, no longer too busy with work or life. Haupt’s various contributors talked about this as well, a positive that came out of so much panic and concern. Be it staring up at the sky and wondering what others are feeling, eating one’s favourite snack and not caring about the nutritional information on the package, or watching a person grieve and not be able to touch them due to social distancing, people have taken the new realities of COVID-19 and made them their own. This book offers a flickering candle to show that the arts community, particularly the written arts, has not been extinguished, even with new rules. This collection explores how we may all feel alone in our own ways, but we are together in the struggle to define what is to come! Recommended to those who want to feel that sense of togetherness by understanding the written word’s power to unite!
I am a fiction or fact-based reader for the most part, so when I was asked to read this piece by Jennifer Haupt herself, I was not sure if it would be for me. I love books and I respect booksellers are an essential piece to the delivery of this, so I agreed, in hopes of getting others interested and supporting those who sell books. Admittedly, poetry does not usually prove to be something that brings me home sooner to explore sentiment or expression, but those contained within the pages of this book seemed to speak to me. I have emotions and do share them, though I am not one who usually flocks to books with a central tenet of discussing them. These poems spoke to me, they pulled me in and showed me that I, too, have felt some of these feelings over the past number of months. The essays and journal entries fascinated me, particularly by those who have faced the illness side of things head-on. I became even more curious when discussion of social movements came to the forefront, especially how lack of outside interaction allowed them to gain momentum with people stuck seeing the images and words before them with little else to do in their day. I suppose what I am trying to say here is that the collaborators in this book spoke to me in ways I did not expect and kept me wanting to know more. I felt as though I could actually engage in a small discussion with them about struggles, feelings, insights, worries, happiness on the other side of it, and curiosity about what the new ‘norm’ might become. Jennifer Haupt has chosen well with a great cross-section of people to contribute to this piece, each offering their own flavouring to this behemoth that has taken over our lives. Symbolically and literally, the world has been masked by rules and worry and uncertainty, but there is also hope, albeit slow and socially distance driven. Some of the entries are a handful of pages, while others barely fill a few lines. This mix leaves something for everyone and the reader can pick what works for them to heal, entertain, or engage. Whatever that might be, the themes that arise here are well sorted and keeps the reader thinking from the outset. A great piece that I can only hope unites as well as supports those who need it most. Refreshing in its delivery, I can admit that I was not expecting to enjoy this book as much as I did, but am glad I took the time to read it from cover to cover.
Kudos, Madam Haupt and all your collaborators, for opening my eyes to the various aspects of this pandemic!
Love/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/
A Book for All Seasons, a different sort of Book Challenge: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...
October 20, 2020
I’m not usually a big fan of essays, but I do go there on occasion. When I saw the blurb on this collection, I knew I really had to read it. Jennifer Haupt has done an outstanding job gathering essays and poems from about 90 different authors. Most all of the contributions have the prevailing themes of feeling alone and struggling to move forward in times of crisis and grief.
For me, the essays, none more than a few pages long, vary in quality. I think the majority are very good and are successful in invoking feelings and poignancy. None however made me cry. I am disappointed that I could not connect with most of the poetry. I blame my “science mind,” and somehow feel I cheated myself in regard to these writings.
Many of the pieces were written during the COVID crisis, mostly during May 2020, from what I can tell. This being October 2020, I am amazed to see how fast the compilation was pulled together, especially with so many authors involved. I love the little author biographies at the end of each piece. I took time to look up most of them on Goodreads or Wikipedia and by doing so ended up adding quite a few books to my TBR list (a good thing IMHO).
It is so wonderful to see how many themes are touched upon. These include losing family members to COVID and other diseases during the time of COVID, communication with those who have passed, final bonding with a parent, sibling estrangement, rejection, jealousy, separated lovers, the yearning for physical touch, the gift of lavender, helping others however one can, the power of music, the miracle of the song of canaries, special bonding with animals, and of course, love, just to name a few.
Overall, I really enjoyed Alone Together and highly recommend this anthology to all who are experiencing sadness and those interested in how others are coping during this tragic pandemic. Of special note, all net profits from the sale of the book will go to The Book Industry Charitable Foundation, a nonprofit organization that coordinates charitable programs to strengthen the bookselling community.
Thanks to the Libby app and Hennepin County Public Library for an e-copy of this collection.
For me, the essays, none more than a few pages long, vary in quality. I think the majority are very good and are successful in invoking feelings and poignancy. None however made me cry. I am disappointed that I could not connect with most of the poetry. I blame my “science mind,” and somehow feel I cheated myself in regard to these writings.
Many of the pieces were written during the COVID crisis, mostly during May 2020, from what I can tell. This being October 2020, I am amazed to see how fast the compilation was pulled together, especially with so many authors involved. I love the little author biographies at the end of each piece. I took time to look up most of them on Goodreads or Wikipedia and by doing so ended up adding quite a few books to my TBR list (a good thing IMHO).
It is so wonderful to see how many themes are touched upon. These include losing family members to COVID and other diseases during the time of COVID, communication with those who have passed, final bonding with a parent, sibling estrangement, rejection, jealousy, separated lovers, the yearning for physical touch, the gift of lavender, helping others however one can, the power of music, the miracle of the song of canaries, special bonding with animals, and of course, love, just to name a few.
Overall, I really enjoyed Alone Together and highly recommend this anthology to all who are experiencing sadness and those interested in how others are coping during this tragic pandemic. Of special note, all net profits from the sale of the book will go to The Book Industry Charitable Foundation, a nonprofit organization that coordinates charitable programs to strengthen the bookselling community.
Thanks to the Libby app and Hennepin County Public Library for an e-copy of this collection.
September 26, 2020
I have a comforting book to share with you today! A couple years ago I read the most brilliant historical fiction book set in Rwanda, a book I will never forget and one that remains on my favorites shelf; that book was written was by Jennifer Haupt In The Shadow of 10,000 Hills. Jennifer Haupt reached out to me a couple months ago because she edited an anthology of essays written during the Covid-19 crisis we are experiencing. They are all about connection and peace during a time that wreaks havoc on our abilities to find just those things.
The list of creators and authors- just wow. You have to see the list. “The roster of voices includes Faith Adiele, Kwame Alexander, Jenna Blum, Andre Dubus III, Jamie Ford, Nikki Giovanni, Pam Houston, Jean Kwok, Major Jackson, Devi S. Laskar, Caroline Leavitt, Ada Limón, Dani Shapiro, David Sheff, Garth Stein, Luis Alberto Urrea, Steve Yarbrough, and Lidia Yuknavitch.”
I can’t give anything away about the goodness that’s inside, but I can tell you that if you read these essays, you’ll feel inspired, refreshed, recharged, not alone, supported, and hopeful. I don’t know about you, but those are some of the most important reasons why I read.
Thank you to Jennifer Haupt and Central Avenue Publishing for the gifted copy. All opinions are my own.
Many of my reviews can also be found on my blog: www.jennifertarheelreader.com and instagram: www.instagram.com/tarheelreader
The list of creators and authors- just wow. You have to see the list. “The roster of voices includes Faith Adiele, Kwame Alexander, Jenna Blum, Andre Dubus III, Jamie Ford, Nikki Giovanni, Pam Houston, Jean Kwok, Major Jackson, Devi S. Laskar, Caroline Leavitt, Ada Limón, Dani Shapiro, David Sheff, Garth Stein, Luis Alberto Urrea, Steve Yarbrough, and Lidia Yuknavitch.”
I can’t give anything away about the goodness that’s inside, but I can tell you that if you read these essays, you’ll feel inspired, refreshed, recharged, not alone, supported, and hopeful. I don’t know about you, but those are some of the most important reasons why I read.
Thank you to Jennifer Haupt and Central Avenue Publishing for the gifted copy. All opinions are my own.
Many of my reviews can also be found on my blog: www.jennifertarheelreader.com and instagram: www.instagram.com/tarheelreader
October 17, 2021
Jennifer Haupt – whose debut novel, In the Shadow of 10,000 Hills, I loved – in the Introduction of this collection states that although she considers herself an introvert, she needs balance to that as well. The daily rituals we have with friends, meeting for coffee, or even just acknowledging another person we don’t really know, but are familiar with by the routines of our lives. How she depends on those daily interactions to energize herself, to feel connected, they are her safety net.
When the quarantine showed no signs of going away, instead of allowing herself to fade, she decided to reach out and gather other authors to write their individual stories that comprise this collection, in an effort to support independent booksellers – a worthy cause.
But, perhaps more than that, it shares stories that are so needed during this time to remind us that we aren’t alone in our feelings, as varied as they may be, about how our lives have changed due to this pandemic, and how those changes have affected us on a personal level. Through poems, occasionally through stories of love, or finding joy during these strange times, our fears for family drawing us closer to family outside the walls of our home, trying to re-establish relationships with those they’ve lost touch with. Reminiscences based on snippets of memories. Anxiety, of course, weaves through these stories, and how other factors have added to our anxiety – perhaps, especially, the murder of George Floyd.
’It had us asking a vast, overwhelming question that became the pumping heart of this book: What Now?’
Depending on what format you read this in, ninety-one authors in the e-book and audio editions, sixty-nine in the print book – you will find varying viewpoints, including authors such as Kwame Alexander, Luis Alberto Urrea, Lidia Yuknavitch, David Sheff, Jenna Blum, Jamie Ford, Caroline Leavittt, Ann Quinn, Gina Frangello, Dani Shapiro, Andre Dubus III… it’s a long list. Some are poems, some share wisdom on getting through these days, some are heartbreaking, and some reflect our own frustrations. All are worth reading.
’And so we have to show our love in other ways. We have to climb the mountains rising up before us, food strapped to our backs, our faces covered with masks as we say, “Stay safe. Stay healthy.” Don’t leave. Ever.’ - from VIGILANCE AND SURRENDER by Andre Dubus III
Nikki Giovanni’s poem, AT TIME LIKE THIS (FOR MAYA ANGELOU) is another that really took my breath away, as did Jamie Ford’s poem SAME
Gina Frangello’s FINAL ACT had me laugh from the start. We didn’t even know how to use Zoom an hour ago, but here we were, sending out Zoom invitations to our pop-up wedding. A wonderful ode to hope, and how quickly things can change.
How strange things seem these days when we think of how things were “before,” and how much stranger it will feel when things return to “normal,” the adjustments we’ve made, the parts of our selves that we have unconsciously shut down in order to keep what’s left of our sanity. The hopes and prayers we inwardly repeat that soon, our lives, our world will soon return to a better quality of normal, an improvement even on our “before.”
Published: 1 Sep 2020
Many thanks to Jennifer Haupt for the ARC provided, and all the other authors who contributed to this book
June 14, 2020
As the editor of this unique and timely anthology, I'm so excited for you all to savor each poems, essays, and interview. Uniting for a common good with 75 authors (55 in the print book and another 22 in the e-book edition) from diverse cultures and backgrounds was both a privilege and reward of putting together this Lovely Monster. She has developed a soul thanks to every one of them. She is our collective pain and our dreams. I hope she offers you what she has given me: possibilities. In telling our stories, we hope to enable you to tell your story. That's the sweet spot of connections, where the healing happens.
“ALONE TOGETHER connects writers, readers, and booksellers in a wonderfully imaginative way. It’s a really good book for a really good cause.” -- James Patterson
"ALONE TOGETHER showcases the human desire to grieve, explore, comfort, connect, and simply sit with the world as it weathers the pandemic. Jennifer Haupt's timely and moving anthology also benefits the Book Industry Charitable Foundation, making it a project that is noble in both word and deed." -- Ann Patchett, Bestselling author, bookseller, and Ambassador for The Book Industry Charitable Foundation
“ALONE TOGETHER connects writers, readers, and booksellers in a wonderfully imaginative way. It’s a really good book for a really good cause.” -- James Patterson
"ALONE TOGETHER showcases the human desire to grieve, explore, comfort, connect, and simply sit with the world as it weathers the pandemic. Jennifer Haupt's timely and moving anthology also benefits the Book Industry Charitable Foundation, making it a project that is noble in both word and deed." -- Ann Patchett, Bestselling author, bookseller, and Ambassador for The Book Industry Charitable Foundation
August 11, 2020
ALONE TOGETHER: Love, Grief and Comfort in the time of COVID-19
BY JENNIFER HAUPT
First and foremost I want to thank Jennifer Haupt and all of the other contributing authors for donating their time and efforts for bringing this amazing collection to the book industry for all of us to be able to find comfort and a human connection during this very uncertain time. All of us are struggling to find peace during this unprecedented pandemic. This is a truly heartfelt collection that I have read twice and it really has the transforming power to unite us all on a world wide level. It helped me to find some joy and peace by reminding me that we really are a whole world trying to navigate ourselves into territory of the likes we have never before witnessed during our lifetimes.
I really admire Jennifer Haupt and all of the contributing authors for doing something positive by donating the proceeds to helping out struggling booksellers. The essays, poems and short stories by many author's work I love and others that I have just discovered brought me comfort. This is such a worthwhile cause that I hope all of those who love to read will be encouraged to purchase a copy and find the strengths and humanity that is portrayed as a comfort that we really aren't alone in these uncertain times.
I was touched by Andre Dubus III in his sharing about his violent youth where his mother was forced to be a single parent by the heartbreaking loss of his father in a devastating tragic death. His father was a GREAT writer whom short stories have been compared to the famous Anton Chekov. Andre doesn't share about the loss of his father in his short story in this collection but I knew that his father was struck down by a car while assisting another driver who had a flat tire. His father's tragic death has shaped him to be the generous author he is. Him and I used to belong to the same gym called the Fitness Factory in Newburyport, MA where we shared the same personal trainer named Jesse. In Andre's short story he does share with the reader how he worked in construction while trying to write his novels before he became an established author when Oprah picked his terrific and unforgettable novel called "The House of Sand and Fog," for her book club which was made into a movie. It was his author reading and book signing of that earlier work that I had the pleasure of first meeting him. He asked me what I did for a living. He really engages with his fans and is humble. His short story in this collection tells of his finally building his family a house so they didn't have to keep renting an apartment. His wife named Fontaine is a dancer who taught dance classes. He lovingly writes about how he shopped for his wife's mother during lock down practicing social distancing.
I really found Caroline Leavitt's essay about her estranged sister and her inability to reconcile with her to be deeply resonating with me. Caroline infused her story with humor as bleak as her situation is by sending her sister emails with unidentifiable headlines relating to Caroline so her sister would open them. It is extremely painful to be estranged or ignored by those whom we love particularly our close family. Steve Yarbrough and Jenna Blum are two more of my favorite authors whom I have had the good fortune to meet many years ago. They contributed thought provoking stories in this collection, also. Kwame Alexander's prose is breathtaking and I LOVED this collection.
I will be purchasing 2 volumes of the physical book to place in my guest bedroom and my coffee table for guests to skim through and pick out the passages that they like in bite sized morsels.
Thank you once again, Jennifer Haupt and all of the other contributing Authors, Central Avenue Publishing and Net Galley for kindly providing me with my ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.
#JenniferHaupt #CentralAvenuePublishing #NetGalley
BY JENNIFER HAUPT
First and foremost I want to thank Jennifer Haupt and all of the other contributing authors for donating their time and efforts for bringing this amazing collection to the book industry for all of us to be able to find comfort and a human connection during this very uncertain time. All of us are struggling to find peace during this unprecedented pandemic. This is a truly heartfelt collection that I have read twice and it really has the transforming power to unite us all on a world wide level. It helped me to find some joy and peace by reminding me that we really are a whole world trying to navigate ourselves into territory of the likes we have never before witnessed during our lifetimes.
I really admire Jennifer Haupt and all of the contributing authors for doing something positive by donating the proceeds to helping out struggling booksellers. The essays, poems and short stories by many author's work I love and others that I have just discovered brought me comfort. This is such a worthwhile cause that I hope all of those who love to read will be encouraged to purchase a copy and find the strengths and humanity that is portrayed as a comfort that we really aren't alone in these uncertain times.
I was touched by Andre Dubus III in his sharing about his violent youth where his mother was forced to be a single parent by the heartbreaking loss of his father in a devastating tragic death. His father was a GREAT writer whom short stories have been compared to the famous Anton Chekov. Andre doesn't share about the loss of his father in his short story in this collection but I knew that his father was struck down by a car while assisting another driver who had a flat tire. His father's tragic death has shaped him to be the generous author he is. Him and I used to belong to the same gym called the Fitness Factory in Newburyport, MA where we shared the same personal trainer named Jesse. In Andre's short story he does share with the reader how he worked in construction while trying to write his novels before he became an established author when Oprah picked his terrific and unforgettable novel called "The House of Sand and Fog," for her book club which was made into a movie. It was his author reading and book signing of that earlier work that I had the pleasure of first meeting him. He asked me what I did for a living. He really engages with his fans and is humble. His short story in this collection tells of his finally building his family a house so they didn't have to keep renting an apartment. His wife named Fontaine is a dancer who taught dance classes. He lovingly writes about how he shopped for his wife's mother during lock down practicing social distancing.
I really found Caroline Leavitt's essay about her estranged sister and her inability to reconcile with her to be deeply resonating with me. Caroline infused her story with humor as bleak as her situation is by sending her sister emails with unidentifiable headlines relating to Caroline so her sister would open them. It is extremely painful to be estranged or ignored by those whom we love particularly our close family. Steve Yarbrough and Jenna Blum are two more of my favorite authors whom I have had the good fortune to meet many years ago. They contributed thought provoking stories in this collection, also. Kwame Alexander's prose is breathtaking and I LOVED this collection.
I will be purchasing 2 volumes of the physical book to place in my guest bedroom and my coffee table for guests to skim through and pick out the passages that they like in bite sized morsels.
Thank you once again, Jennifer Haupt and all of the other contributing Authors, Central Avenue Publishing and Net Galley for kindly providing me with my ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.
#JenniferHaupt #CentralAvenuePublishing #NetGalley
July 26, 2020
This collection is marvellous, let me tell ya. COVID is driving me (and everyone else, it seems) insane. Being stuck inside, being forced to work to pay bills, being scared and anxious and worried... We're all in the same boat, even when we're not. We're all in this together. And this book reminds readers of this.
Faith Adiele's The New Old Vocabulary showed me COVID from a very different angle. I'm up in Canada, just chilling at home, doing full time school and reading my little heart out. I'm picking up new hobbies and trying my best, but her comments... It put life into a perspective. I complained about being alone, but having the opportunity to be semi-safe, but not everyone in the U.S.A. is. The stats about African American men being arrested when they're just trying to help homeless people... It hurts. It makes my soul ache. Really ache.
Andre Dubus the Third's story made my eyes well up, reading about his mother-in-law's thoughts on COVID. It hurt. It hurt real bad. But at the same time, it made me not feel alone. I'm not the only one questioning why this is here. It made humanity feel so much better than the crazies in my town screaming and threatening each other if they get 10 feet near them.
Laura Stanfill's story about Priya... It makes me weep. It's so close to home, yet so beautifully written. Grace Talusan's also made my heart feel so sad. Jean Kowk's gave me hope, and made my heart sing because I related to it in so many ways.
Then there's more poems, and essays, and interviews, and short stories throughout. Some will bring tears, some will open your eyes and some will give you hope. There is no doubt in my mind that there is a piece of work in this for everyone. It'll make you feel connected to a community you didn't know was there. It made me feel more at home then I have in months, which is a feat all in itself. It's nice knowing that we're not alone in this big battle.
There's love, hate, fear and hope throughout. This is one absolutely incredible collection that I am so happy and proud of picking up. We need books to remind us of our humanity sometimes, and this book did it.
Also, the reminders of George Floyd, and the racism and hate that still lingers... It's as bad as COVID, if not worse. Because racism is avoidable if people could be kind, COVID and super viruses, not as much.
We need justice.
Five out of five stars.
Faith Adiele's The New Old Vocabulary showed me COVID from a very different angle. I'm up in Canada, just chilling at home, doing full time school and reading my little heart out. I'm picking up new hobbies and trying my best, but her comments... It put life into a perspective. I complained about being alone, but having the opportunity to be semi-safe, but not everyone in the U.S.A. is. The stats about African American men being arrested when they're just trying to help homeless people... It hurts. It makes my soul ache. Really ache.
Andre Dubus the Third's story made my eyes well up, reading about his mother-in-law's thoughts on COVID. It hurt. It hurt real bad. But at the same time, it made me not feel alone. I'm not the only one questioning why this is here. It made humanity feel so much better than the crazies in my town screaming and threatening each other if they get 10 feet near them.
Laura Stanfill's story about Priya... It makes me weep. It's so close to home, yet so beautifully written. Grace Talusan's also made my heart feel so sad. Jean Kowk's gave me hope, and made my heart sing because I related to it in so many ways.
Then there's more poems, and essays, and interviews, and short stories throughout. Some will bring tears, some will open your eyes and some will give you hope. There is no doubt in my mind that there is a piece of work in this for everyone. It'll make you feel connected to a community you didn't know was there. It made me feel more at home then I have in months, which is a feat all in itself. It's nice knowing that we're not alone in this big battle.
There's love, hate, fear and hope throughout. This is one absolutely incredible collection that I am so happy and proud of picking up. We need books to remind us of our humanity sometimes, and this book did it.
Also, the reminders of George Floyd, and the racism and hate that still lingers... It's as bad as COVID, if not worse. Because racism is avoidable if people could be kind, COVID and super viruses, not as much.
We need justice.
Five out of five stars.
August 4, 2020
An amazing collection of writings —heartbreaking, soul-searching, inspiring —about living amid the COVID-19 epidemic. How blessed we are to have resources such as ALONE TOGETHER that capture history-in-the-making so movingly!
The essays, poems and interviews with luminaries such as Nikki Giovanni and Garth Stein, plus a host of talented emerging writers, resonated deeply with me and made me feel less alone.
All proceeds support indie bookstores, hit hard financially by the epidemic, through The Book Industry Charitable Foundation. A worthy endeavor, a splendid read!
5 of 5 Stars
Pub Date 01 Sep 2020
Thanks to editor Jennifer Haupt, the authors, Central Avenue Publishing, and NetGalley for the review copy. Opinions are mine.
#AloneTogether #NetGalley
The essays, poems and interviews with luminaries such as Nikki Giovanni and Garth Stein, plus a host of talented emerging writers, resonated deeply with me and made me feel less alone.
All proceeds support indie bookstores, hit hard financially by the epidemic, through The Book Industry Charitable Foundation. A worthy endeavor, a splendid read!
5 of 5 Stars
Pub Date 01 Sep 2020
Thanks to editor Jennifer Haupt, the authors, Central Avenue Publishing, and NetGalley for the review copy. Opinions are mine.
#AloneTogether #NetGalley
November 1, 2020
I'm happy to have an essay, about the uncertainty of the disease, my bookstore job, and the publishing world in general, in this anthology. Thanks, Jennifer Haupt, for having me in this amazing group of writers. The whole book contains so much insight, warmth, and humanity for everyone in this difficult time. https://www.powells.com/book/alone-to...
August 31, 2020
This anthology is a collection of essays, poetry and Interviews. This diverse collection was created during one of the most difficult times in our lives right now with COVID-19. The sections are love, grief, comfort and connection. Some of these authors I have read before and some I haven't but I'd love to read more from them now. I enjoyed all of the authors contributions to this book. It was moving and deeply honest. This is must read for us right now and a piece of history for future generations. All net proceeds for this book will be given to the Book Industry Charitable Foundation which provides assistance to book stores.
Dawnny Ruby
Novels N Latte
Hudson Valley NY
Dawnny Ruby
Novels N Latte
Hudson Valley NY
July 6, 2020
What an honor it was to read this book. I so admire Jennifer Haupt for pouring her energy and determination during the pandemic to compile this anthology. Every one of us is looking for a way to understand, to connect, and to relate during this time of isolation. Alone Together is a stirring, thoughtful, and honest collection of essays, poems, and interviews, written by dozens of talented voices from across the country. Just as we have all dealt with current events in our own ways, so have these authors, and I was moved to tears many times by their words, thoughts, and feelings. This is an important piece, one that will resonate with those of us living through this time, as well as something that future generations can read to get an understanding of what we endured, and maybe learn from the things we did right, as well as the things we did wrong.
August 18, 2020
When I heard about this collection, I was elated… and scared. Even though I wasn’t in self quarantine long, it took a tole on my mental and emotional well being. I wasn’t taught how to just be still for days on end. I don’t think many of us here in America are good at it honestly. More than that, though, I went from being someone made to feel like a monkey could do my job to being essential- over night! And then everyone started talking about reopening strategies and masks… suddenly the essential employee is a sheep, worthless… a Nazi even if they never say a word- simply because their company- that essential of all businesses- has politely asked you to wear a mask while in the store. It was hurtful, degrading… and demoralizing. I had so many feelings, all of which were being magnified by the fact that I didn’t see my family- the largest part of my support system- as often as I wanted; and I didn’t always know when and if I would be seeing the coworkers and customers that I loved. Several of my work friends have had to quarantine, and two still are. I know I am lucky, the cases that have come to those that I care about have been minor. Everyone has survived it with little more than cabin fever. I am so grateful. I digress, though… let’s get back to the book.
What made this especially tempting for me right now is that I have felt alone- cut off. I am sure many of us have. In here is not only proof that we are not alone, even when we feel it down to the bone, but that we can work through it together- that others have. While I didn’t agree with every entry, each one was a piece of their soul- their pain, fear, vulnerability or triumph. Out in the open, unapologetic and glorious. I had started highlighting and noting the pieces I thought would be especially important to me, until I realized I had done this to nearly every piece in the book. The collection also introduced me to several authors that I hadn’t known about before. I have either bought or borrowed several books that are now in my TBR and I will be getting through them. While so many stories were painful, there was hope and solidarity too. We are not alone, even when we have to shelter alone…. we can be Alone Together. For me, this is a five star book.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
On the adult content scale there’s a lot of language, and sexual content- much in the form of sexts or innuendos. There is some heavy stuff about past traumas and the like, but nothing that I think a teenager couldn’t handle. I would give it a five.
I was lucky enough to receive an eARC of this book from Netgalley and Central Avenue publishing in exchange for an honest review. My thanks!
The book comes out the beginning of September! Be ready!
What made this especially tempting for me right now is that I have felt alone- cut off. I am sure many of us have. In here is not only proof that we are not alone, even when we feel it down to the bone, but that we can work through it together- that others have. While I didn’t agree with every entry, each one was a piece of their soul- their pain, fear, vulnerability or triumph. Out in the open, unapologetic and glorious. I had started highlighting and noting the pieces I thought would be especially important to me, until I realized I had done this to nearly every piece in the book. The collection also introduced me to several authors that I hadn’t known about before. I have either bought or borrowed several books that are now in my TBR and I will be getting through them. While so many stories were painful, there was hope and solidarity too. We are not alone, even when we have to shelter alone…. we can be Alone Together. For me, this is a five star book.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
On the adult content scale there’s a lot of language, and sexual content- much in the form of sexts or innuendos. There is some heavy stuff about past traumas and the like, but nothing that I think a teenager couldn’t handle. I would give it a five.
I was lucky enough to receive an eARC of this book from Netgalley and Central Avenue publishing in exchange for an honest review. My thanks!
The book comes out the beginning of September! Be ready!
November 17, 2020
Paralyzed by anxiety during the early days of the Covid-19 outbreak, Haupt realized that she needed to direct her energy into something positive to avoid allowing her stress to dominate her waking hours. Recognizing the impact that the stay-at-home orders would have on independent bookstores, she decided to rally authors asking them to contribute an essay, poem, or interview about their personal experiences during this pandemic to an anthology that would benefit struggling booksellers through the Book Industry Charitable Foundation (BINC). The responses were swift and positive – sixty-nine authors wrote pieces for the print book and another twenty-two individuals (added after the physical book went to print) are included in the e-book and audio editions. While many of the pieces resonated with me, the standouts in the anthology for me are Kwame Alexander’s interview, Jenna Blum’s essay which includes a poem by Stephen Kiernan, and Caroline Leavitt’s piece about social distancing and estrangement. However, the beauty of this collection is that just as the pandemic has impacted each of us differently, the various essays and poems will also speak to each reader in a unique way.
Listen to my author interviews here: https://www.thoughtsfromapage.com, and for more of my reviews, check out my Instagram account: https://www.instagram.com/thoughtsfro....
Listen to my author interviews here: https://www.thoughtsfromapage.com, and for more of my reviews, check out my Instagram account: https://www.instagram.com/thoughtsfro....
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July 23, 2020This beauty comes out September first. It was an honor to be a part of it. My essay about losing my father during the pandemic is in the section of this book called GRIEVE. Honestly, it was healing to tell the story and to know the proceeds were going towards something so generous and full of heart. Thank you if you should buy this book and support the cause of carrying independent booksellers through these tough months. xo
July 28, 2020
I loved this book. As a fellow writer I loved being able to relate to these authors on so many different levels. The different ways to tell this story was just amazing and the way the book was curated and assembled together was impeccable. Absolutely would recommend!!
January 9, 2021
thanks to netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
“don’t let me die alone.”
covid-19 has changed everyone's lives and showed us how ephemeral our existence can be. people have faced different obstacles like the loss of a loved one, eviction from their housing, the dismissal from their jobs, among many other situations. "alone together" is a perfect depiction of the struggles the world is going through. it shows us how vulnerable certain groups have become in such a heartbreaking and realistic way through poems and real short stories. it is definitely a worthy read.
reading this makes you empathize with those who have not been as lucky as you. here's a link to the WHO's official website to donate to the "covid-19 solidarity response fund." you can find more information on who they partner with here: https://covid19responsefund.org/en/
“don’t let me die alone.”
covid-19 has changed everyone's lives and showed us how ephemeral our existence can be. people have faced different obstacles like the loss of a loved one, eviction from their housing, the dismissal from their jobs, among many other situations. "alone together" is a perfect depiction of the struggles the world is going through. it shows us how vulnerable certain groups have become in such a heartbreaking and realistic way through poems and real short stories. it is definitely a worthy read.
reading this makes you empathize with those who have not been as lucky as you. here's a link to the WHO's official website to donate to the "covid-19 solidarity response fund." you can find more information on who they partner with here: https://covid19responsefund.org/en/
September 7, 2020
Description Summary: A scrapbook of stories from the various people who give life to the literature world, heart wrenching in it's brutal storytelling.
Score: 3/5
I would like to thank Netgalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions shared are my own personal thoughts.
I love the idea and concept behind this book, and I think it’s a wonderful movement to help support the literature world that provides us with the much needed escapism we desperately need during these troubling times. So grateful and in awe that Haupt decided to donate the proceeds of this book to aid indie bookstores and booksellers.
Book Summary: Haupt presents a series of short stories and poems that make up this aching real anthology about the raw truths that we individuals face in wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Gathered from multiple figures in the literary world, Haupt presents the collection of stories in 4 different parts titled:
What now?
Grieve
Comfort
Connect
We are whisked away to hear tales of bustling cities coming to halt, Zoom funerals and weddings, reunions and goodbyes, protests and change, and the comfort a yellow canary can bring us with its song. End of Summary
Truthfully this book hides nothing. It’s like tentacles and claws ripping out open your darkest fears and worries about the pandemic and putting them on paper. Albeit few pages are not so bleak but for the most part this book is intense. It is not an easy read but I feel some people (especially those who think this whole pandemic is a “hoax”) need to see this.
I am sure many connected and shared in the many grievances presented in the book but to me personally it didn’t help. I feel like the book enabled hidden anxieties and worries to spring back up full force, and at one point I had to put the book down because it was overwhelming. This was why I took such a long time to read this. This is why I am saying that to anyone who easily becomes anxious:This is a warning: this book may be triggering. And I do not want anyone else to go through what I went through.
I liked how the stories were divided into four parts, I liked how we had a diverse range of authors and writings. Additionally, adding small bio of the author after every piece is a nice add-on
Do I recommend? Only if you are able to emotionally and mentally handle the stories in the book.
Score: 3/5
I would like to thank Netgalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions shared are my own personal thoughts.
I love the idea and concept behind this book, and I think it’s a wonderful movement to help support the literature world that provides us with the much needed escapism we desperately need during these troubling times. So grateful and in awe that Haupt decided to donate the proceeds of this book to aid indie bookstores and booksellers.
Book Summary: Haupt presents a series of short stories and poems that make up this aching real anthology about the raw truths that we individuals face in wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Gathered from multiple figures in the literary world, Haupt presents the collection of stories in 4 different parts titled:
What now?
Grieve
Comfort
Connect
We are whisked away to hear tales of bustling cities coming to halt, Zoom funerals and weddings, reunions and goodbyes, protests and change, and the comfort a yellow canary can bring us with its song. End of Summary
Truthfully this book hides nothing. It’s like tentacles and claws ripping out open your darkest fears and worries about the pandemic and putting them on paper. Albeit few pages are not so bleak but for the most part this book is intense. It is not an easy read but I feel some people (especially those who think this whole pandemic is a “hoax”) need to see this.
I am sure many connected and shared in the many grievances presented in the book but to me personally it didn’t help. I feel like the book enabled hidden anxieties and worries to spring back up full force, and at one point I had to put the book down because it was overwhelming. This was why I took such a long time to read this. This is why I am saying that to anyone who easily becomes anxious:This is a warning: this book may be triggering. And I do not want anyone else to go through what I went through.
I liked how the stories were divided into four parts, I liked how we had a diverse range of authors and writings. Additionally, adding small bio of the author after every piece is a nice add-on
Do I recommend? Only if you are able to emotionally and mentally handle the stories in the book.
August 24, 2020
Thank you NetGalley, Central Avenue and Kate Rock Book Tours for a complimentary copy. I voluntarily reviewed this book. All opinions expressed are my own.
Alone Together
By: Jennifer Haupt
REVIEW ☆☆☆☆
We're all in this together. Have you heard someone say that? Do you really believe it? Is it laughable to ascertain we are all together when we've never been more isolated? Has the isolation made your life better in some ways? Alone Together by Jennifer Haupt is an anthology of COVID-19 essays, interviews, stories and poems that offer perspectives from every angle.
This worldwide pandemic seems like a dystopian novel. I've read numerous stories about viruses and plagues causing death, isolation and preventative measures. Then, I look around and see people wearing masks and social distancing from others. I honestly, naively, never thought I would see anything like this happen. From the page the pandemic story jumped, and it goes walking by now, wearing a mask. Is this real?
Each author in this anthology shows us that the pandemic is real. There are endless ways to experience isolation. With so much death and tragedy, it seems odd to think anything good could grow from this. Yet, people have reconnected, strangers have shared infinite acts of kindness, some have changed their lifestyles, discovered hidden talents and heroes have emerged. People shine in times of darkness.
Alone Together is a book for everyone. The contents tell the horrible truth-raw, sharp and unflinching-because grief and death should never be glossed over or portrayed lightly. Paradoxically, the good I mentioned is here, too. COVID-19 has forever changed our lives. This anthology will, years from now, serve as part of history, a reminder of who we were, who we are and who we have become.
Alone Together
By: Jennifer Haupt
REVIEW ☆☆☆☆
We're all in this together. Have you heard someone say that? Do you really believe it? Is it laughable to ascertain we are all together when we've never been more isolated? Has the isolation made your life better in some ways? Alone Together by Jennifer Haupt is an anthology of COVID-19 essays, interviews, stories and poems that offer perspectives from every angle.
This worldwide pandemic seems like a dystopian novel. I've read numerous stories about viruses and plagues causing death, isolation and preventative measures. Then, I look around and see people wearing masks and social distancing from others. I honestly, naively, never thought I would see anything like this happen. From the page the pandemic story jumped, and it goes walking by now, wearing a mask. Is this real?
Each author in this anthology shows us that the pandemic is real. There are endless ways to experience isolation. With so much death and tragedy, it seems odd to think anything good could grow from this. Yet, people have reconnected, strangers have shared infinite acts of kindness, some have changed their lifestyles, discovered hidden talents and heroes have emerged. People shine in times of darkness.
Alone Together is a book for everyone. The contents tell the horrible truth-raw, sharp and unflinching-because grief and death should never be glossed over or portrayed lightly. Paradoxically, the good I mentioned is here, too. COVID-19 has forever changed our lives. This anthology will, years from now, serve as part of history, a reminder of who we were, who we are and who we have become.
September 2, 2020
I know many of us still haven’t begun to contend with what we’ve been through, what we’re going through in this wild, awful year. And the idea of books like this being published now feels a bit premature, after all there is no end in sight to the virus. And if you’re like me, high risk, have spent everyday of your life even pre-virus fighting to stay alive, it’s heartbreaking, discouraging, so unfair to still be stuck at home and alone as so much of the rest of the world has just decided to act like it’s all over. But maybe I needed this book especially then, because while I’m long used to isolation, illness, fear- I didn’t have near as much issue as many early on because frankly a couple months is nothing- but now, now I’m struggling. So reading this collection was an experience- both a ripping open of the scab and also the salve, the start of some form of healing or at least the reckoning necessary to eventually get there.
I highlighted and took notes of so many pieces that spoke to me and it’s hard to review this one because I am sure different pieces will click with different people and everyone will have their own journey of emotions reading this. I have always loved anthologies though, I requested this book the day it was listed on Net Galley. And this is a top notch collection of authors and writers. There’s so many different types of writing- essays, musings, memories, poetry, interviews. I think it helps make the point of how different we all are and yet how much we are in this together. Also notable is this whole collection is for charity. The proceeds go to the Book Industry Charitable Foundation (Binc) which is a fantastic charity for booksellers, that does amazing things and is working hard to support those who have been out of work from the virus. Also worth mentioning is that the ebook and physical book have different sets of stories in them and while I’m not wholly certain, I believe the Net Galley version I’ve read is the ebook version.
At points I found these hard to read, hard but necessary. It was never a struggle to read or poorly written- the opposite, I found myself looking up work by authors I wasn’t familiar with or hadn’t yet read- but the subject matter itself is hard. So I read it slowly in pieces. But the last section seemed to really bring it all together and had me in tears in the best way. In the last section I especially connected with an interview with Luis Alberto Urrea who noted -
“Clearly, something is stirring in our hearts. We are hurt and damaged and yearning for our better selves, desperately dreaming of a kinder world in the days to come. Will we forget that when we can all go back to our concerts and football games and fancy restaurants and bars? I don’t know. But one must, in the words of Brennan Manning, have ruthless trust.”
I have been feeling this more and more recently even than earlier into things. I’ve finally had to leave the house a few times, for a doctor’s appointment and some errands. And each of the few times I have been out- and also each time I have made my once a week late night trip down to grab my mail and packages from the package room of my high rise- I find myself having the most incredible, genuine, truly meaningful conversations with people. I’ve befriended the overnight security guys in my building, booksellers, walked into a boutique and connected first with the store employee who had a visible insulin pump and spotted my IV tubing and central line. And while we sat talking for hours we then encountered another diabetic and pregnant woman and a nurse who had recently had surgery. So the four of us women with all our health woes and fears and loneliness bonded and just somehow found one another and I’ve never seen anything like it before but it’s one of the most amazing and random experiences I’ve ever had. The other night, as I have become an ex smoker thanks to the help of vaping and e-cigarettes I ventured into a new smoke and vape shop and left two hours later with the Palestinian owner calling himself my brother, telling me I was the strongest person he knew, promising he would do anything to help me stay off the cigarettes because he thought it was amazing I’d done it and that I was so positive and strong though to my own ears I worried id stood there ranting and complaining. These powerful connections and the way they seem to just spill out of us are amazing and absolutely a direct result of the time we are all living through.
I’m not unfamiliar with severe isolation, as ive already said, or the way when people are isolated they are often desperate to talk once they encounter someone. There’s a bit of a stereotype of the chatty elderly person but after I became disabled and isolated through it at a young age (which definitely played a major role into my isolation. I was too young to have married or started a family and my peers were not mature enough to deal with it) I realized it’s not an age thing at all. It’s a loneliness thing. Because I catch myself doing it also. I grew up with a much older than usual set of parents and a father who was a deeply depressed extrovert who would talk the ear off the grocery store employees back when he and I would make late night Meijer runs. And I’ve rarely seen it work though where the person you start spewing to truly wants to listen. Some will, because they’re nice or don’t know how to extract themselves but you can tell when a person means it. And to be running into these experiences again and again, to have people actually encourage me to stay and keep talking, if there’s anything good that’s come from this time it’s that.
And I think this directly relates to what the book says again and again in so many ways- that at the end of it all we are our stories and our stories matter. That there is power and strength and healing in telling our stories. So I recommend this book to everyone- and you can’t go wrong with the charity factor! But I actually especially recommend it to those who are more hesitant to read it. We’re probably the folks who need it most. And all my love and respect to everyone who contributed- there is so much heart in this anthology. From Zoom weddings to raising Icelandic sheep to grieving to walks in the park with kids. There is a story here that will wrap itself around your heart too. Probably more than one. Maybe dozens. Each in a different way. You can’t go wrong buying this book!
“Sing and do not stop. March and do not stop. Work and do not stop. Write your story across the sky and don’t despair because despair is the most powerful weapon of the dominant.” -Luis Alberto Urrea
I highlighted and took notes of so many pieces that spoke to me and it’s hard to review this one because I am sure different pieces will click with different people and everyone will have their own journey of emotions reading this. I have always loved anthologies though, I requested this book the day it was listed on Net Galley. And this is a top notch collection of authors and writers. There’s so many different types of writing- essays, musings, memories, poetry, interviews. I think it helps make the point of how different we all are and yet how much we are in this together. Also notable is this whole collection is for charity. The proceeds go to the Book Industry Charitable Foundation (Binc) which is a fantastic charity for booksellers, that does amazing things and is working hard to support those who have been out of work from the virus. Also worth mentioning is that the ebook and physical book have different sets of stories in them and while I’m not wholly certain, I believe the Net Galley version I’ve read is the ebook version.
At points I found these hard to read, hard but necessary. It was never a struggle to read or poorly written- the opposite, I found myself looking up work by authors I wasn’t familiar with or hadn’t yet read- but the subject matter itself is hard. So I read it slowly in pieces. But the last section seemed to really bring it all together and had me in tears in the best way. In the last section I especially connected with an interview with Luis Alberto Urrea who noted -
“Clearly, something is stirring in our hearts. We are hurt and damaged and yearning for our better selves, desperately dreaming of a kinder world in the days to come. Will we forget that when we can all go back to our concerts and football games and fancy restaurants and bars? I don’t know. But one must, in the words of Brennan Manning, have ruthless trust.”
I have been feeling this more and more recently even than earlier into things. I’ve finally had to leave the house a few times, for a doctor’s appointment and some errands. And each of the few times I have been out- and also each time I have made my once a week late night trip down to grab my mail and packages from the package room of my high rise- I find myself having the most incredible, genuine, truly meaningful conversations with people. I’ve befriended the overnight security guys in my building, booksellers, walked into a boutique and connected first with the store employee who had a visible insulin pump and spotted my IV tubing and central line. And while we sat talking for hours we then encountered another diabetic and pregnant woman and a nurse who had recently had surgery. So the four of us women with all our health woes and fears and loneliness bonded and just somehow found one another and I’ve never seen anything like it before but it’s one of the most amazing and random experiences I’ve ever had. The other night, as I have become an ex smoker thanks to the help of vaping and e-cigarettes I ventured into a new smoke and vape shop and left two hours later with the Palestinian owner calling himself my brother, telling me I was the strongest person he knew, promising he would do anything to help me stay off the cigarettes because he thought it was amazing I’d done it and that I was so positive and strong though to my own ears I worried id stood there ranting and complaining. These powerful connections and the way they seem to just spill out of us are amazing and absolutely a direct result of the time we are all living through.
I’m not unfamiliar with severe isolation, as ive already said, or the way when people are isolated they are often desperate to talk once they encounter someone. There’s a bit of a stereotype of the chatty elderly person but after I became disabled and isolated through it at a young age (which definitely played a major role into my isolation. I was too young to have married or started a family and my peers were not mature enough to deal with it) I realized it’s not an age thing at all. It’s a loneliness thing. Because I catch myself doing it also. I grew up with a much older than usual set of parents and a father who was a deeply depressed extrovert who would talk the ear off the grocery store employees back when he and I would make late night Meijer runs. And I’ve rarely seen it work though where the person you start spewing to truly wants to listen. Some will, because they’re nice or don’t know how to extract themselves but you can tell when a person means it. And to be running into these experiences again and again, to have people actually encourage me to stay and keep talking, if there’s anything good that’s come from this time it’s that.
And I think this directly relates to what the book says again and again in so many ways- that at the end of it all we are our stories and our stories matter. That there is power and strength and healing in telling our stories. So I recommend this book to everyone- and you can’t go wrong with the charity factor! But I actually especially recommend it to those who are more hesitant to read it. We’re probably the folks who need it most. And all my love and respect to everyone who contributed- there is so much heart in this anthology. From Zoom weddings to raising Icelandic sheep to grieving to walks in the park with kids. There is a story here that will wrap itself around your heart too. Probably more than one. Maybe dozens. Each in a different way. You can’t go wrong buying this book!
“Sing and do not stop. March and do not stop. Work and do not stop. Write your story across the sky and don’t despair because despair is the most powerful weapon of the dominant.” -Luis Alberto Urrea
July 4, 2020
I still remember the nervousness I felt as I approached Harriet Clare, the co-owner of Indy's feminist bookstore Dreams & Swords. It was a Broad Ripple area icon, a 2-story bookstore in a trendy, progressive area of Indianapolis where I'd first purchased books like Laura Davis and Ellen Bass's "Courage to Heal" that would become essential in my own recovery from childhood sexual abuse and adult sexual assault.
I handed over my first self-published effort, a GBC-bound collection of poetry I called "Imaginary Crimes" that detailed my life experiences that helped me express truths that writers like Etheridge Knight, Charles Bukowski, and Audre Lord had convinced me I was allowed to put out to the world.
I expected Harriet to say "I'm sorry, we can't carry that."
She didn't. She gingerly accepted the book. Over the next few days, she read the book. I'm sure she realized these words weren't written perfectly, whatever perfect means, but she treated these words like the sacred truths they were and she placed my book on a shelf where the world could see it.
I don't know that that's the point where I became a "writer," but I do know that's the point where I began to realize my voice matters and I need to use it every single chance I get.
The book sold. A lot. It sold so much that I ended up having to buy a second GBC Binder to keep up with the demand from survivors who felt empowered by my vulnerable truths and from therapists and professional conferences who sought me out to lead workshops on speaking truth.
I thought about this period of my life a lot while reading Jennifer Haupt's equally sacred collection "Alone Together: Love, Grief, and Comfort in the Time of COVID-19," an exhilarating and deeply moving collection of essays, poetry, interviews, and words giving voice to what it means to live in this time of isolation and uncertainty.
The central theme of "Alone Together" is how this age, and it indeed feels like an age, of isolation and uncertainty is changing us as individuals and a society. The book is divided into five sections - What Now?, Grieve, Comfort, Connect, and Don’t Stop!.
In response to the pandemic, Haupt has rallied almost one hundred authors and business partners to contribute their work, free of charge, to support independent booksellers forced to close their doors. All proceeds are being donated to The Book Industry Charitable Foundation, a nonprofit organization that coordinates charitable programs to strengthen the bookselling community. The print book contains 69 essays, interviews, and poems. The audio and e-book editions have 22 bonus pieces.
Haupt's roster of voices is diverse, some household names easily recognized while others may seem more obscure but have long committed themselves to the journey of writing. I picture them contributing to the book for many of the same reasons I will support the endeavor - a deep appreciation for indie booksellers and memories of those who've supported the world in which they now live.
Faith Adiele, Kwame Alexander, Jenna Blum, Andre Dubus III, Jamie Ford, Nikki Giovanni, Luis Alberto Urrea, Pam Houston, Jean Kwok, Major Jackson, Caroline Leavitt, Devi S. Laskar, Ada Limón, Dani Shapiro, David Sheff, Garth Stein, Steve Yarbrough, and Lidia Yuknavitch are only some of the names represented here and who give voice to what it means to seek connection amidst forced isolation and how to survive and thrive and make sense of the almost nonsensical. While specific to the COVID-19 pandemic, "Alone Together will unquestionably endure as these voices all seemingly understand that what we endure now is an experience that will change our lives and our systems for years to come.
From Garth Stein's eloquent and matter-of-fact foreword that proclaims, among many things, that "art is the crucial element of humanity," "Alone Together" through experiences that are at times incredibly profound and at other times achingly vulnerable. At times, "Alone Together" is almost jarringly mundane while other times, practically without notice, the tears flow and and my own memories formed throughout the period come flashing back.
It seems weird, almost cruel, to pick favorites amongst such a meaningful collection but I suppose that's an obligation for reviewing a collection that seems to defy review.
Faith Adiele's pointed, structured "The New Vocabulary" adds clarity to unfolding events as if an Outlook Calendar has gone universal and somehow tied us all together. Martha Anne Toll's "Dayenu: Dispatches from the COVID-19 Sick Ward" brought my first tears, a gratitude unfolding within a journey filled to the brim with humanity gut-level truths.
Gail Brandeis's "Shedding" is the first, but certainly not last, poem that sings out my own truths while Scott James's "Ghost Town" celebrates the deep meaning of an ever elusive smile.
Robin Black's "Needlecast" simply took my breath away. There is never a time when Nikki Giovanni's words don't sing to my soul and the same is true here. It is immediately followed by Devi S. Laskar's remarkable "State of the Art, State of the Union," an essay that speaks to chaos and accountability and meaning and ends with what may very well be my favorite sentence in the entire collection.
No, I'm not placing it here. You need to read it for yourself.
As someone who has spent 30 years of my life on an event called the Tenderness Tour, I seemingly always get chills with writers who can meaningfully explore the world of touch and tenderness as unfolds in Paulette Perhach's "Skin" and Michelle Goodman's extraordinary "Touch," the latter being an essay where I outright sobbed and sobbed and sobbed.
Having lost my own younger brother during this pandemic, I resonated deeply with Caroline Leavitt's "Sibling Estrangement and Social Distancing" and with Susan Henderson's "Quarantine" nearly as much.
I still have images in my mind from Laura Stanfill's "Breathing Lilacs."
I feel every word in Julie Gardner's "The Last T-shirt."
Andrea King Collier's words acknowledge survival and privilege; Jane Hirshfield's "Today, When I could Do Nothing" danced around my heart with the tininess of its wonder and beauty.
Abigail Carter's "The House with the Mossy Roof" feels familiar as I reflect on my own experiences being a 50+ disabled adult living alone in a house without family around. Porch drops have become a form of human connection, while any semblance of "checking in" has become desperately sought intimacy.
In a collection so immersed in grief and isolation, Jean Kwok's aptly titled "Searching for Grace during Lockdown" felt like grace during lockdown. I would have been happy with the title put forth by Kelli Russell Agodon and Melissa Studdard - "I Kind of Want to Love the World, But I Have No Idea How to Hold It."
Indeed.
Lidia Yuknavitch, an author I didn't know for far too long, feels like a long lost sibling with "Ecstatic States," while Sonora Jha's "Alone and Awash in Desire" splashes like waves over my wounded psyche.
I know. I know. It's weird to keep mentioning individual essays. I simply can't help myself and, indeed, I simply won't help myself. There are others. Admittedly, some resonated more than others as is nearly always true in a collection of essays.
Sommer Browning and David Shields's "Pandemic Date Night" made me laugh with a hint of melancholy. A conversation with Luis Alberto Urrea is easily among my favorites of the book's interviews with its call to life and fierce optimism.
I can't even explain why I loved Pam Houston's "Stamina (Memorial Day Weekend, 2020), but I feel it still holding a special place within my heart. The same is true for Shana Mahaffey's "Don't Stop Believin'.
Near the end of "Alone Together," Haupt herself reflects on "Why Get Out of Bed?," a meaningful and insightful question at a time when for many of us there is no place to go and when even working means only moving to a different room in the house.
In mid-November, I was hospitalized at St. Francis Hospital here in Indianapolis. Dehydration had overwhelmed my system and infection had practically taken over a body that has lived far longer than anyone expected. I'm a 54-year-old paraplegic/double amputee with spina bifida, a birth defect that killed 95% of those born with it in 1965 and a birth defect that largely means I will be at the back of the line for critical care should COVID-19 come my way.
That scares me.
I survived yet another amputation in late November, my left leg going from below-knee amputation to above-knee amputation. I subsequently spent over 3+ months off work recovering and learning how to transfer to a toilet, a bed, how to dress, and eventually how to get back in my car. I was alone for much of this time, though certainly grateful for one month of home health and the occasional visit to my urban home where I live a quiet, introverted life. I had returned to work for one week, quite literally one week, when COVID-19 sent us all to work from home and where I remain having spent the better part of the last seven months alone with very occasional visits, now non-existent with the virus, and occasional visits to the local Target or Meijer to replenish supplies while masked up and befuddled by those who choose rights over the survival of those around them.
I laughed during "Alone Together." I cried during "Alone Together." I reflected and meditated and prayed and remembered and hoped and grieved and connected during "Alone Together."
"Alone Together: Love, Grief, and Comfort in the Time of COVID-19" is scheduled for release by Central Avenue Publishing on September 1, 2020 with all proceeds to benefit the Book Industry Charitable Foundation.
I handed over my first self-published effort, a GBC-bound collection of poetry I called "Imaginary Crimes" that detailed my life experiences that helped me express truths that writers like Etheridge Knight, Charles Bukowski, and Audre Lord had convinced me I was allowed to put out to the world.
I expected Harriet to say "I'm sorry, we can't carry that."
She didn't. She gingerly accepted the book. Over the next few days, she read the book. I'm sure she realized these words weren't written perfectly, whatever perfect means, but she treated these words like the sacred truths they were and she placed my book on a shelf where the world could see it.
I don't know that that's the point where I became a "writer," but I do know that's the point where I began to realize my voice matters and I need to use it every single chance I get.
The book sold. A lot. It sold so much that I ended up having to buy a second GBC Binder to keep up with the demand from survivors who felt empowered by my vulnerable truths and from therapists and professional conferences who sought me out to lead workshops on speaking truth.
I thought about this period of my life a lot while reading Jennifer Haupt's equally sacred collection "Alone Together: Love, Grief, and Comfort in the Time of COVID-19," an exhilarating and deeply moving collection of essays, poetry, interviews, and words giving voice to what it means to live in this time of isolation and uncertainty.
The central theme of "Alone Together" is how this age, and it indeed feels like an age, of isolation and uncertainty is changing us as individuals and a society. The book is divided into five sections - What Now?, Grieve, Comfort, Connect, and Don’t Stop!.
In response to the pandemic, Haupt has rallied almost one hundred authors and business partners to contribute their work, free of charge, to support independent booksellers forced to close their doors. All proceeds are being donated to The Book Industry Charitable Foundation, a nonprofit organization that coordinates charitable programs to strengthen the bookselling community. The print book contains 69 essays, interviews, and poems. The audio and e-book editions have 22 bonus pieces.
Haupt's roster of voices is diverse, some household names easily recognized while others may seem more obscure but have long committed themselves to the journey of writing. I picture them contributing to the book for many of the same reasons I will support the endeavor - a deep appreciation for indie booksellers and memories of those who've supported the world in which they now live.
Faith Adiele, Kwame Alexander, Jenna Blum, Andre Dubus III, Jamie Ford, Nikki Giovanni, Luis Alberto Urrea, Pam Houston, Jean Kwok, Major Jackson, Caroline Leavitt, Devi S. Laskar, Ada Limón, Dani Shapiro, David Sheff, Garth Stein, Steve Yarbrough, and Lidia Yuknavitch are only some of the names represented here and who give voice to what it means to seek connection amidst forced isolation and how to survive and thrive and make sense of the almost nonsensical. While specific to the COVID-19 pandemic, "Alone Together will unquestionably endure as these voices all seemingly understand that what we endure now is an experience that will change our lives and our systems for years to come.
From Garth Stein's eloquent and matter-of-fact foreword that proclaims, among many things, that "art is the crucial element of humanity," "Alone Together" through experiences that are at times incredibly profound and at other times achingly vulnerable. At times, "Alone Together" is almost jarringly mundane while other times, practically without notice, the tears flow and and my own memories formed throughout the period come flashing back.
It seems weird, almost cruel, to pick favorites amongst such a meaningful collection but I suppose that's an obligation for reviewing a collection that seems to defy review.
Faith Adiele's pointed, structured "The New Vocabulary" adds clarity to unfolding events as if an Outlook Calendar has gone universal and somehow tied us all together. Martha Anne Toll's "Dayenu: Dispatches from the COVID-19 Sick Ward" brought my first tears, a gratitude unfolding within a journey filled to the brim with humanity gut-level truths.
Gail Brandeis's "Shedding" is the first, but certainly not last, poem that sings out my own truths while Scott James's "Ghost Town" celebrates the deep meaning of an ever elusive smile.
Robin Black's "Needlecast" simply took my breath away. There is never a time when Nikki Giovanni's words don't sing to my soul and the same is true here. It is immediately followed by Devi S. Laskar's remarkable "State of the Art, State of the Union," an essay that speaks to chaos and accountability and meaning and ends with what may very well be my favorite sentence in the entire collection.
No, I'm not placing it here. You need to read it for yourself.
As someone who has spent 30 years of my life on an event called the Tenderness Tour, I seemingly always get chills with writers who can meaningfully explore the world of touch and tenderness as unfolds in Paulette Perhach's "Skin" and Michelle Goodman's extraordinary "Touch," the latter being an essay where I outright sobbed and sobbed and sobbed.
Having lost my own younger brother during this pandemic, I resonated deeply with Caroline Leavitt's "Sibling Estrangement and Social Distancing" and with Susan Henderson's "Quarantine" nearly as much.
I still have images in my mind from Laura Stanfill's "Breathing Lilacs."
I feel every word in Julie Gardner's "The Last T-shirt."
Andrea King Collier's words acknowledge survival and privilege; Jane Hirshfield's "Today, When I could Do Nothing" danced around my heart with the tininess of its wonder and beauty.
Abigail Carter's "The House with the Mossy Roof" feels familiar as I reflect on my own experiences being a 50+ disabled adult living alone in a house without family around. Porch drops have become a form of human connection, while any semblance of "checking in" has become desperately sought intimacy.
In a collection so immersed in grief and isolation, Jean Kwok's aptly titled "Searching for Grace during Lockdown" felt like grace during lockdown. I would have been happy with the title put forth by Kelli Russell Agodon and Melissa Studdard - "I Kind of Want to Love the World, But I Have No Idea How to Hold It."
Indeed.
Lidia Yuknavitch, an author I didn't know for far too long, feels like a long lost sibling with "Ecstatic States," while Sonora Jha's "Alone and Awash in Desire" splashes like waves over my wounded psyche.
I know. I know. It's weird to keep mentioning individual essays. I simply can't help myself and, indeed, I simply won't help myself. There are others. Admittedly, some resonated more than others as is nearly always true in a collection of essays.
Sommer Browning and David Shields's "Pandemic Date Night" made me laugh with a hint of melancholy. A conversation with Luis Alberto Urrea is easily among my favorites of the book's interviews with its call to life and fierce optimism.
I can't even explain why I loved Pam Houston's "Stamina (Memorial Day Weekend, 2020), but I feel it still holding a special place within my heart. The same is true for Shana Mahaffey's "Don't Stop Believin'.
Near the end of "Alone Together," Haupt herself reflects on "Why Get Out of Bed?," a meaningful and insightful question at a time when for many of us there is no place to go and when even working means only moving to a different room in the house.
In mid-November, I was hospitalized at St. Francis Hospital here in Indianapolis. Dehydration had overwhelmed my system and infection had practically taken over a body that has lived far longer than anyone expected. I'm a 54-year-old paraplegic/double amputee with spina bifida, a birth defect that killed 95% of those born with it in 1965 and a birth defect that largely means I will be at the back of the line for critical care should COVID-19 come my way.
That scares me.
I survived yet another amputation in late November, my left leg going from below-knee amputation to above-knee amputation. I subsequently spent over 3+ months off work recovering and learning how to transfer to a toilet, a bed, how to dress, and eventually how to get back in my car. I was alone for much of this time, though certainly grateful for one month of home health and the occasional visit to my urban home where I live a quiet, introverted life. I had returned to work for one week, quite literally one week, when COVID-19 sent us all to work from home and where I remain having spent the better part of the last seven months alone with very occasional visits, now non-existent with the virus, and occasional visits to the local Target or Meijer to replenish supplies while masked up and befuddled by those who choose rights over the survival of those around them.
I laughed during "Alone Together." I cried during "Alone Together." I reflected and meditated and prayed and remembered and hoped and grieved and connected during "Alone Together."
"Alone Together: Love, Grief, and Comfort in the Time of COVID-19" is scheduled for release by Central Avenue Publishing on September 1, 2020 with all proceeds to benefit the Book Industry Charitable Foundation.
January 3, 2021
An amazing collection of essays, poems , and short stories revolving around Covid -19.
This is a heartbreaking, inspiring, and thought provoking collection.
This really helped me see lockdown and the pandemic from so many other sides.
I highly recommend this book, and I love the fact the proceeds go to a great cause.
I voluntarily read and reviewed this book, all thoughts and opinions are my own.
This is a heartbreaking, inspiring, and thought provoking collection.
This really helped me see lockdown and the pandemic from so many other sides.
I highly recommend this book, and I love the fact the proceeds go to a great cause.
I voluntarily read and reviewed this book, all thoughts and opinions are my own.
July 29, 2020
Vhat a perfect book at the perfect time!
This book is all about Love, Grief, and Comfort During the Time of COVID-19 is a collection of essays, poems, and interviews to serve as a lifeline for negotiating how to connect and thrive during this stressful time of isolation. I was instantly drawn to the title and the beautiful idea around this book. It is a comforting and reassuring book in these tough times.
Loved the cover, essays and the thoughts behind this book.
3/5
Thank you @NetGalley and Jennifer Haupt and all the wonderful people who have given their voice and words to this book for giving me an opportunity to read this book.
This book is all about Love, Grief, and Comfort During the Time of COVID-19 is a collection of essays, poems, and interviews to serve as a lifeline for negotiating how to connect and thrive during this stressful time of isolation. I was instantly drawn to the title and the beautiful idea around this book. It is a comforting and reassuring book in these tough times.
Loved the cover, essays and the thoughts behind this book.
3/5
Thank you @NetGalley and Jennifer Haupt and all the wonderful people who have given their voice and words to this book for giving me an opportunity to read this book.
February 12, 2023
This collection of essays and poems re-affirmed what a strange time we are living in, the trials people have survived, and the grief and need for human connection that we all have. I dog-eared a lot of the pages in this library book (but I did un-dog ear them later and take pictures) because they touched me and I wanted to touch them back! (I also wanted to look up the authors and read their other works)
July 24, 2020
This is a book you should buy, even though you may or may not want to read it for a while. You may want to put a copy away like a time capsule, or use it to inspire your journaling during this challenging time.
It's a fundraising anthology of short essays and poetry regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. Net proceeds will be donated to a foundation for independent bookstores. The e-book collects the work of 91 authors; the print edition will include 69.
So it's for a good cause. Is it a good book?
Much of it, yes, very good. Stephen Kiernan's "These Nights of Candles" is an aching howl of twilight loneliness, and the context in which it is shared (reading the poem over the phone to a friend taking an anxiety bath) is both tender and absurd, like so many pandemic connections. Poignant images in other pieces speak of fear, isolation, and the need for support - an author's mysteriously withering trees; naming one's sourdough starter (complete with gender-identified pronouns); a remote funeral where the Zoom mourners stand watch over the empty room once the body is removed, until someone finally remembers to turn them off.
Like any anthology, quality varies, and what I preferred may not be what you will favor. Some pieces were rougher than others, as though there was still some processing/polishing to be done. Others incorporated past work or events in ways that did not always resonate. I wish there had been more geographic diversity among the authors, as the representation favors the coasts, with an emphasis on Seattle. And even though I admired much of the work, it was challenging to absorb all these heavy emotions at a time when everything is all still present and close. (Kudos to Jean Kwok, who was funny and moving at the same time.)
This book will remind you and your family how this year felt - what we lost, what we gained, what we never want to lose again. It's a book to buy, give, and keep. Maybe let it breathe a little.
Many thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
It's a fundraising anthology of short essays and poetry regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. Net proceeds will be donated to a foundation for independent bookstores. The e-book collects the work of 91 authors; the print edition will include 69.
So it's for a good cause. Is it a good book?
Much of it, yes, very good. Stephen Kiernan's "These Nights of Candles" is an aching howl of twilight loneliness, and the context in which it is shared (reading the poem over the phone to a friend taking an anxiety bath) is both tender and absurd, like so many pandemic connections. Poignant images in other pieces speak of fear, isolation, and the need for support - an author's mysteriously withering trees; naming one's sourdough starter (complete with gender-identified pronouns); a remote funeral where the Zoom mourners stand watch over the empty room once the body is removed, until someone finally remembers to turn them off.
Like any anthology, quality varies, and what I preferred may not be what you will favor. Some pieces were rougher than others, as though there was still some processing/polishing to be done. Others incorporated past work or events in ways that did not always resonate. I wish there had been more geographic diversity among the authors, as the representation favors the coasts, with an emphasis on Seattle. And even though I admired much of the work, it was challenging to absorb all these heavy emotions at a time when everything is all still present and close. (Kudos to Jean Kwok, who was funny and moving at the same time.)
This book will remind you and your family how this year felt - what we lost, what we gained, what we never want to lose again. It's a book to buy, give, and keep. Maybe let it breathe a little.
Many thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
November 26, 2020
This was just Okay. A lot of bad poetry interspersed with some short, captivating essays.
July 28, 2020
This book is definitely a MUST READ!
It is a very timely anthology of people around the US depicting their experiences with the pandemic. For us, in this new era, the pandemic hit us all in many different ways. Some people were scared on how would they survive, how their families would continue standing, or even how to pay the bills. For older people, it was threat, a bigger one since many seniors were dying and many died because of the pandemic. Many people blamed old people for this pandemic and weren't kind to them, by blaming it on them and by prioritizing medical equipment for others. For kids, it was a time where they couldn't see their friends, school was now online and presented new challenges and precious events like graduations were all done virtually marking all the graduating classes this year as a unique one. Being from a graduating class myself, I spent a lot of time frustrated towards the pandemic, but this book served as a relief, because it allows you to immerse yourself in other people's shoes. It shows us to be kinder with others and ourselves. It helps others understand how we're all going through this pandemic. Together, and even if sometimes it doesn't feel this way... with this book, it allows us to be in the moment and to understand and learn of how others are doing. It is relatable because we are living through it, it is for a good cause because this book not only is helping a local charity, but this book will go down in history years after this pandemic ends...
Thank Netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this book
It is a very timely anthology of people around the US depicting their experiences with the pandemic. For us, in this new era, the pandemic hit us all in many different ways. Some people were scared on how would they survive, how their families would continue standing, or even how to pay the bills. For older people, it was threat, a bigger one since many seniors were dying and many died because of the pandemic. Many people blamed old people for this pandemic and weren't kind to them, by blaming it on them and by prioritizing medical equipment for others. For kids, it was a time where they couldn't see their friends, school was now online and presented new challenges and precious events like graduations were all done virtually marking all the graduating classes this year as a unique one. Being from a graduating class myself, I spent a lot of time frustrated towards the pandemic, but this book served as a relief, because it allows you to immerse yourself in other people's shoes. It shows us to be kinder with others and ourselves. It helps others understand how we're all going through this pandemic. Together, and even if sometimes it doesn't feel this way... with this book, it allows us to be in the moment and to understand and learn of how others are doing. It is relatable because we are living through it, it is for a good cause because this book not only is helping a local charity, but this book will go down in history years after this pandemic ends...
Thank Netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this book
April 12, 2021
Thanks to NetGalley and Central Avenue Publishing for the review copy. The below opinions are mine.
Alone Together is a collection of writings by various authors and other collaborators about living in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Some are essays, some are poems and there is also some poetry. I'm not a huge fan of poetry and I couldn't connect with them much. This anthology touches upon several important topics such as feeling lonely, struggling to move forward while grieving and after experiencing loss, how the pandemic impacts each of us differently etc.
I really enjoyed reading the essays and it was interesting to read how other people are coping in this pandemic. We are also able to get some pointers. This book has introduced me to several authors whose books I will be checking out in the future. Many thanks to Jennifer Haupt for compiling this anthology. This book really helped me to observe the pandemic from different points of view.
Such a thought provoking collection!
Alone Together is a collection of writings by various authors and other collaborators about living in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Some are essays, some are poems and there is also some poetry. I'm not a huge fan of poetry and I couldn't connect with them much. This anthology touches upon several important topics such as feeling lonely, struggling to move forward while grieving and after experiencing loss, how the pandemic impacts each of us differently etc.
I really enjoyed reading the essays and it was interesting to read how other people are coping in this pandemic. We are also able to get some pointers. This book has introduced me to several authors whose books I will be checking out in the future. Many thanks to Jennifer Haupt for compiling this anthology. This book really helped me to observe the pandemic from different points of view.
Such a thought provoking collection!
July 30, 2020
Seldom do you get to read a book that surrounds events that you are currently living through. While the formatting was off on my e-reader which made reading some of the stories difficult, and a few were missing in the current/advanced copy - this was such a lovely read. This book is all of us as COVID has truly not left a single person in the US untouched.
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