{"product_id":"from-scarsdale-a-childhood-paperback","title":"From Scarsdale: A Childhood - Paperback","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eDan O'Brien\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eFrom Scarsdale\u003c\/i\u003e is an evocative and lyrical memoir of a haunted childhood in Scarsdale, New\u003cbr\u003eYork.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWith a cancer diagnosis in his early forties, the author is compelled to revisit and resolve\u003cbr\u003ethe mystery of his family's sadness. The fourth of six children in an Irish-American household\u003cbr\u003edistinctly out-of-place in this affluent suburb of New York City, O'Brien grows up in a\u003cbr\u003eclaustrophobic milieu of secrecy, lies, and mental illness. The turning point in his maturation is\u003cbr\u003ean older brother's attempted suicide - an event he witnesses firsthand. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eFrom Scarsdale\u003c\/i\u003e traces\u003cbr\u003ewith sensitivity the complex histories and dynamics that lead to this trauma, as O'Brien\u003cbr\u003einvestigates the psychologies of his parents, themselves the survivors of painful childhoods in\u003cbr\u003eScarsdale. Then, simultaneously disturbed and catalyzed by his brother's depression, and his\u003cbr\u003eown developing obsessive-compulsive disorder, the adolescent O'Brien discovers literature and\u003cbr\u003ethe theatre as an escape, though it will take years for an actual liberation to occur. In many\u003cbr\u003eways this memoir is that liberation, as his ambition here has been to tell \"the story of who I am\u003cbr\u003eand where I'm from, with honesty, insight, and something like forgiveness. To try to leave the\u003cbr\u003eold place behind.\" \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWith the specificity and aching affection of William Maxwell's Ancestors, and the\u003cbr\u003eimpressionistic, mosaic-like structure of Michael Ondaatje's Running in the Family, this book's\u003cbr\u003esubject is ultimately, like all memoir, the solace and the conundrum of memory. \u003ci\u003eFrom Scarsdale\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eis a rare book, uniquely told, and a poignant example of the redemptive power of a true story.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eDan O'Brien is a playwright, poet, librettist, and essayist whose recognition includes a\u003cbr\u003eGuggenheim Fellowship in Drama \u0026amp; Performance Art and the UK's Fenton Aldeburgh Poetry\u003cbr\u003ePrize. \u003ci\u003eTrue Story: A Trilogy\u003c\/i\u003e of O'Brien's plays was published by Dalkey Archive Press in 2023, \u003cbr\u003eand in 2021 his collection of essays, \u003ci\u003eA Story That Happens: On Playwriting, Childhood, \u0026amp; Other\u003cbr\u003eTraumas\u003c\/i\u003e, was published by Dalkey Archive in the US and by CB Editions in the UK. His poetry\u003cbr\u003ecollections are\u003ci\u003e Survivor's Notebook, Our Cancers, New Life, Scarsdale, \u003c\/i\u003eand\u003ci\u003e War Reporter\u003c\/i\u003e. His\u003cbr\u003eplays include \u003ci\u003eThe Body of an American\u003c\/i\u003e, winner of the PEN USA Award, the Edward M. Kennedy\u003cbr\u003ePrize, and the Horton Foote Prize, and \u003ci\u003eThe House in Scarsdale\u003c\/i\u003e, winner of a PEN America Award.\u003cbr\u003eHe lives in Los Angeles with his wife, the actor and writer Jessica St. Clair, and their daughter\u003cbr\u003eIsobel.\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 216\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.8 x 8.4 x 5.4 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e October 31, 2023\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52466194350387,"sku":"9781628975482","price":23.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0300\/5595\/6612\/files\/YmjFyVGVnl9781628975482.webp?v=1759312411","url":"https:\/\/www.vysn.com\/en-ca\/products\/from-scarsdale-a-childhood-paperback","provider":"VYSN","version":"1.0","type":"link"}