Meghan O'Rourke Livres

A young woman's memoir of a year of grieving after her mother died, written with anger, insight, wisdom and grace

Set in a mythical America, the insomniac speakers navigate a landscape of fallen cathedrals, grappling with their identities amid the chaos of destructive love, aesthetic pursuits, and looming conflict. Despite the challenges they face, they maintain a resilient hope in the transformative power of imagination, blending themes of personal growth and societal turmoil in their journey toward self-discovery.

Selections from the "Pandemic Files" published by The Yale Review , the preeminent journal of literature and ideas“If only our response to the pandemic on other fronts could have been as speedy and potent as this literary one.”— Kirkus Reviews , starred reviewIn beautifully written and powerfully thought prose, A World Out of Reach offers a crucial record of COVID-19 and the cataclysmic spring of 2020—a record for us and for posterity—in the arresting voices of poets, essayists, scholars, and health care workers. Ranging from matters of policy and social justice to ancient history and personal stories of living under lockdown, this vivid compilation from The Yale Review presents a first draft of one of the most tumultuous periods in recent history.Contributors:Katie Kitamura • Laura Kolbe • Nitin Ahuja • Rena Xu • Alicia Christoff • Miranda Featherstone • Maya C. Popa • Major Jackson • John Witt • Octávio Luiz Motta Ferraz • Joan Naviyuk Kane • Nell Freudenberger • Briallen Hopper • Brandon Shimoda • Yusef Komunyakaa • Laren McClung • Eric O’Keefe-Krebs • Sean Lynch • Millicent Marcus • Meghana Mysore • Rachel Jamison Webster • Emily Ziff Griffin • Rowan Ricardo Philips • Kathryn Lofton • Monica Ferrell • Russell Morse • Randi Hutter Epstein • Noreen Khawaja • Victoria Chang • Joyelle McSweeney • Khameer Kidia • Emily Greenwood • Elisa Gabbert • Emily Bernard • Hafizah Geter • Emily Gogolak • Roger Reeves

Chronic illness and autoimmune diseases are at the forefront of a silent epidemic affecting millions, often overlooked and misunderstood. Meghan O'Rourke investigates these 'invisible' illnesses, including long COVID, drawing from her personal health journey and extensive interviews with experts. She critiques historical medical definitions and highlights the neglect faced by marginalized groups. Blending personal narrative with broader social commentary, O'Rourke advocates for a transformative approach to understanding and treating these complex conditions, offering hope and insight for those affected.

"A landmark exploration of one of the most consequential and mysterious issues of our time: the rise of chronic illness and autoimmune diseases. A silent epidemic of chronic illnesses afflicts tens of millions of Americans: these are diseases that are poorly understood, frequently marginalized, and can go undiagnosed and unrecognized altogether. Renowned writer Meghan O'Rourke delivers a revelatory investigation into this elusive category of 'invisible' illness that encompasses autoimmune diseases, post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome, and now long COVID. Drawing on her own medical experiences as well as a decade of interviews with doctors, patients, researchers, and public health experts, O'Rourke traces the history of Western definitions of illness, and reveals how inherited ideas of cause, diagnosis, and treatment have led us to ignore a host of hard-to-understand medical conditions, ones that resist easy description or simple cures. And as America faces this health crisis of extraordinary proportions, the populations most likely to be neglected by our institutions include women, the working class, and people of color. Blending lyricism and erudition, candor and empathy, O'Rourke brings together her deep and disparate talents and roles as critic, journalist, poet, teacher, and patient, synthesizing the personal and universal into one monumental project arguing for a seismic shift in our approach to disease. The Invisible Kingdom offers hope for the sick, solace and insight for their loved ones, and a radical new understanding of our bodies and our health." -- Provided by publisher

Exploring themes of bodily fragility and the yearning for motherhood, this collection combines ambitious poetry and lyric essays to articulate the struggles of illness and the weight of loss. The work captures the complexity of human experience with O'Rourke's keen observational skills and emotional depth, offering moments of grace amidst the challenges. As a finalist for the Paterson Poetry Prize, it stands out for its unsentimental yet profound approach to the philosophical questions surrounding the body and existence.