“I love that "furious and gorgeous barrage." That helps me see the relation between the introduction and the book's final section, where writing about a fire (and about the attempt to understand the event), also becomes an attempt to understand how writing might get closer to the fire, in so many ways.” WayWritingBookHelpingMightFireEventsRelationFinalsHelp MeSectionsGorgeousIntroductionFurious Author:Laura Mullen
“Oh my research. Well, I got an English Degree. And I got that degree in a certain time/at a certain place. If you add UC Berkeley + 1984 the other side of the = is "new historian" meaning that I studied with and was influenced by those who were interested in how the personal shaped the political (and literary), how science and literature might interact, and what the body got to do with it.” IfsWellsBodyMightPoliticalCertainLiteratureSidesDegreesResearchAddHistorianBerkeleyUc Berkeley Author:Laura Mullen
“Maybe one way to think about it would be in the context of the historical development of germ theory. The problem of childbed fever was not significant until the development of a male-dominated medical establishment made possible the situation in which a professional might move from touching a corpse (for the purposes of study) to putting his unwashed hands up against, or into, a woman in labor.” ThinkingWayMadeProblemHandsMightWould BeMovingPurposeSituationStudyTheoryDevelopmentLaborHistoricalMalesMedicalSignificantOne WayTouchingEstablishmentCorpsesFeverGermsHands Up Author:Laura Mullen
“Miss Havisham is a glitch in the smooth functioning of the Patriarchy, enforcing awareness of a moment of social disaster and personal shame, something it seems she would want us to forget (but no one would forget). (Maybe an interesting "discussion question" for readers of Complicated Grief might be, "What do Terry Barton and Miss Havisham have in common?"?)” WantMomentsSeemsMightSocialForgetInterestingCommonGriefAwarenessMissingReaderShameComplicatedDisasterDiscussionSmoothPatriarchyWant UGlitchesHavishamMiss HavishamComplicated Grief Author:Laura Mullen
“Star Wars film is breaking all previous box office records. (Why might we want to revisit those characters, that narrative, those jokes and tropes again, in this way, right now? I wonder what it will turn out to reveal about the economics and politics of this moment.)” WayWantWarMomentsCharacterMightFilmTurnsStarsWonderRecordsRight NowOfficeJokesEconomicsBoxesNarrativeBox OfficeTropes Author:Laura Mullen
“One might say that "Torch Song" is, in part, about the urgency of the effort to pin things down and what wild dart throwing that desire leads to.” MightDesireSongEffortDown AndThrowingPinsUrgencyTorches Author:Laura Mullen
“I hope, by being honest about what happened to me, to help nourish a culture of honesty that might make something different - and better - possible. We really need to squarely face the issue of child abuse in America, and to look at our perversity, our illness.” NeedsLooksChildrenDifferentHelpingMightAmericaFacesCultureIssuesHappenedHonestHonestyAbuseIllnessBeing HonestChild AbusePerversity Author:Laura Mullen
