All That Was Not Her

Todd Meyers met Beverly, a woman living in economic and social insecurity in Baltimore, and presented an intimate ethnographic portrait of her in All That Was Not Her, exploring the possibilities of writing about someone who is gone and the ethical challenges of studying the lives of others.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 232 pages
Publication date: 22 March 2022
Publisher: Duke University Press

Anthropologist Todd Meyers encountered Beverly during his research on caregiving and chronic illness in economically and socially vulnerable families in Baltimore. In his book, "All That Was Not Her," Meyers presents a deeply intimate ethnographic portrait of Beverly, weaving together various moments they shared over months and years, even after her passing, into the present. He reflects on the challenges of writing about someone who is no longer present, considering what should be represented, what experiences resist being rendered, and the ethical dilemmas that arise when studying the lives of others. Meyers delves into the ways in which Beverly's chronic illness was intertwined with the racialized and socioeconomic conditions of her life, exploring the stakes of the anthropologist's engagement with a single subject. Despite his efforts to give Beverly the final word, Meyers finds himself transformed alongside her, reflecting on the complexities of personal relationships in the field and the difficulty of their endings. "All That Was Not Her" captures the nuanced and multifaceted nature of personal connections in the field and the profound impact of their termination.

ISBN-13: 9781478017899