To Write as if Already Dead

To Write As If Already Dead is a diaristic, transgressive work by Kate Zambreno that explores the failed attempts of Kate Zambreno to write a study of Hervé Guiberts To the Friend Who Did Not Save My Life. The first half is a novella in the mode of a detective story, while the second half is a notebook documenting the doubled history of two bodies amid another historical plague. The book asks what an author is and explores it through the anxieties of the internet age, the ethics of friendship, and the facts of the body.

Format: Hardback
Length: 176 pages
Publication date: 08 June 2021
Publisher: Columbia University Press

To Write As If Already Dead is a captivating diaristic work by Kate Zambreno, exploring her failed attempts to write a study of Hervé Guiberts To the Friend Who Did Not Save My Life. This introspective and transgressive piece, written in the years preceding Guiberts death, documents his diagnosis and disintegration from AIDS with remarkable speed and intensity. In the first half of the book, set in the mode of a detective story, Zambreno delves into the mysterious disappearance of an online friendship following an intense dialogue on anonymity, names, language, and connection. The second half, a notebook documenting the doubled history of two bodies amidst another historical plague, continues the meditation on friendship, solitude, time, mortality, precarity, art, and literature. Throughout this rigorous and mischievous exploration, Guibert lingers as a ghost companion, guiding Zambreno through her literary journey.

Zambreno, known for pushing the boundaries of literary form, adopts Guiberts methods in this book to offer a keen sense of the energy and confessional force of Guiberts work. She explores the question of authorship, infusing it with new urgency by examining the anxieties of the internet age, the ethics of friendship, and the facts of the body: illness, pregnancy, and death. Through her meticulous analysis, Zambreno sheds light on the complexities of writing and the profound impact of Guiberts work on the literary landscape.

To Write As If Already Dead is a testament to Zambrenos talent and dedication to literature. It is a must-read for anyone interested in exploring the boundaries of creativity and the human experience.

Dimension: 198 x 129 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780231188449