On strange attraction / Edie Meidav -- Cusp. A certain devotion Pamela Thompson -- Double exposure / Rebecca Bell-Gurwitz -- Chain of tools / Kris Brandenburger -- The unclimbable / Danica Novgorodoff -- Children and all that jazz / Liesl Schillinger -- Guides. Cake / Jenni Quilter -- Mr. Rochester and Mr. Matthiessen: on mentors (and romantic confusion) / Sharon Guskin -- In a woman's kingdom / Sheila Kohler -- Stanley Adelman: magician of typewriters / Thaisa Frank -- What do you want from me, life? / Debbie Deford-Minerva -- Fractal cats / Judy Grahn -- Partners. Rumination in three parts / Noy Holland -- Conspirators / R.O. Kwon -- The only other person in the world / Rebecca Wolff -- On mothers, lovers, and other rivals / Ana Castillo -- Talisman / Sejal Shah -- The unfounded: a nectar guide in names / Laynie Browne -- A season of sophistication / Bonnie Friedman -- Creative spark. Leap / Sarah Ladipo Manyika -- The life of stuff / Heather Sheehan -- After Smithson / Clarinda Mac Low -- My Magdalene: divinity and desire / Dale Kushner -- Polarizing forces. Fetish for complicity / Sonia Feigelson -- The line / Melinda Misuraca -- All about love, nearly / Andrea Scrima -- Epiphany. Fortuneteller / Terese Svoboda -- Yonder / Rachel Cole Dalamangas -- On serendipity / Indira Ganesan -- Cups (a dream) / Rikki Ducornet -- Survival. Coyote on holy mesa / Quintan Ana Wikswo -- Weaning, a love story / Elizabeth Rosner -- Watchfires / Hilary Plum -- Breaking down / Donna Ford -- (Rifle, morphine) / Carolyn Cooke -- Afternoon and after / Debra Jo Immergut.
Summary:
"Has a stunning surprise or lucky encounter ever propelled you in an unanticipated direction? Are you doing what you always thought you would be doing with your life or has some unseen magnetism changed your course? And has that redirection come to seem inevitable? Edie Meidav and Emmalie Dropkin asked leading contemporary writers to consider these questions, which they characterize through the metaphor of "the strange attractor," a scientific theory describing "an inevitable occurrence which arises out of chaos." Meidav's introduction and the thirty-five pieces collected here offer imaginative, arresting, and memorable replies to this query, including guidance from a yellow fish, a typewriter repairman, a cat, a bear, a bicycle, and a Buddhist professor of writing. Absorbing and provoking, this is nonfiction to be read in batches and bursts and returned to again and again"-- Provided by publisher.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.