Pretty Much Dead

by Daphne Gottlieb

Beyond the surface glitter of tech wealth currently overwhelming cities like San Francisco are the interstice communities that have barely survived the onslaught. In the streets, in transient hotels and in rent-controlled buildings, the residents settle and search, trying to hold on in the city at the edge of the world. In these stories, Daphne Gottlieb chronicles inner and outer worlds, shedding light on the significance of a cat, the larger meaning of a parking ticket, the violent mutability of an indoor hurricane, and the contents of a bag as the owner stalks like a wounded tiger though the streets, dragging the memory of her objects through the collection itself. Artful, heartrending, clear-eyed and darkly magical, Pretty Much Dead is part fable, part witness, and part chorus with the voices that are only heard when they start to yell.

Genres: Fiction

234 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2015

About the author

Daphne Gottlieb is a San Francisco-based Performance Poet.

Gottlieb has served as the poetry editor of the online queer literary magazine Lodestar Quarterly and was a co-organizer of ForWord Girls, a first spoken word festival for anyone who is, has been or will be a girl, which was held in September 2002.

She has taught at New College of California, and has also performed and taught creative writing workshops around the country, from high schools and colleges to community centers. She received her MFA from Mills College.

Photo by Marlo Gayle

Reviews

[Ocean · Rating 4 out of 5]

disturbing and brilliant. like gottlieb, i am also a social worker in SF working with homeless people, so i could relate to this a little too much, which was uncomfortable at times, but ultimately fulfilling. it's not a feel-good read at all (obvi), but if you can take the harshness, it's quite a work.

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Harrowing and hallucinogenic short fictions about people at the margins and those who look after them. As streetwise as Steven Jesse Bernstein and with language as precisely off-kilter as Diane Williams, Pretty Much Dead is a remarkable collection. Unlike many writers of short-short fiction Gottlieb has a knack for creating memorable characters that are troubling and troubled. I saw Gottlieb read at the Beauty Bar in San Francisco during Lit Quake 2015 and knew I had to get this book if only to read "strung," which she performed that night.

[Lisa M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This short story collection showcases Gottlieb's talent. These stories depict real people--the marginalized and those who care for them. I am a social worker that works with the homeless. I think Gottlieb's collection portrayed some of the realities of the homeless (severely mentally ill, traumatized, addicted to substances,) population. In one story she acknowledges that it is difficult to portray the homeless woman without romanticizing her. Yet, these characters are full, real people. They are complex, they aren't simplified. While I didn't always relate to how she portrayed case managers/social workers, I felt they were authentic and real portrayals. Gottlieb is one of my favorite authors and I really enjoy her experimentation with form. The piece that incorporated a clinical note was fascinating to me; although she uses experimental form less here than in her poetry collections, it is done masterfully. The story that utilizes the timeline was fascinating and one of my favorite pieces. While many of these stories sang, others didn't click for me as much--but there is certainly nothing bad in this collection. I really enjoyed the blatant and subtle connections between the stories. This book shows Gottlieb's control over form and language. I hope she publishes more prose in the future.

[Laura Koennecke · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this vivid, harrowing perspective of lives pushed to the periphery of our awareness, Gottlieb treats her characters with love and kindness. Sometimes difficult to read because of the characters’ harsh realities, their humanity is gently cradled and protected by the author, reminding us of our own.

[Alvin · Rating 4 out of 5]

PMD is a collection of literary snapshots depicting people as they're crushed by mental illness, addiction, poverty, crime, and social injustice. We mostly learn about Gottlieb's ill-fated characters by seeing things from their confused and/or delusional point of view. It's a tricky strategy. Sometimes there is simply no way to know what's going on. When it works, though, readers get what feels like an authentic glimpse into the harrowing realities these unfortunate people are forced to inhabit.