What do you think?
Rate this book
Wreck: A Very Anxious Memoir
Kelley Jo Burke embarks on a wild journey to understand many things, including the part where her grandfather sort of murdered her grandmother. Returning to a house filled with her first memories of childhood, she begins to explore the complex origins of her own anxiety. Along the way, she reflects on alienation and immigration, mental health and generational trauma, and the nature of memory itself. A memoir filled with raw honesty, comedy, tragedy and grace.
- GenresMemoirNonfiction
168 pages, Paperback
First published May 18, 2021
About the author
Kelley Jo Burke
11 books9 followersKelley Jo Burke is an American-born, Winnipeg-raised award-winning playwright , director, storyteller, documentarian (for CBC Radio One’s IDEAS), and producer and broadcaster.
Her plays have been produced and published in Canada, and around the world, including "Somewhere Sask.", (Indie Ink, upcoming) “Ducks on the Moon” (Hagios), "The Selkie Wife" (Scirocco), "Jane's Thumb" (Signature), and "Charming and Rose: True Love (Blizzard).
She dramaturges, directs and produces for stage and regional and national radio and was the host/producer of CBC Saskatchewan’s radio arts performance hour SoundXchange.
She has been a workshop leader in creative process, writing, performance, and creative non-fiction writing and production for more than twenty years.
She is a cultural citizen, serving on Saskatchewan Arts Board juries, judging awards and competitions, a sought-after speaker and panel member for many conferences and arts events, past president of the Saskatchewan Playwrights’ Centre, and past executive member of the Playwrights’ Guild of Canada.
She was 2009 winner of the Saskatchewan Lieutenant-Governor’s Award for Leadership in the Arts, the 2009 City of Regina Writing Award (her third time receiving that award), and the 2008 Saskatoon and Area Theatre Award for Playwriting.
While she has yet to earn any awards for it, she is the mother of three.
Her plays have been produced and published in Canada, and around the world, including "Somewhere Sask.", (Indie Ink, upcoming) “Ducks on the Moon” (Hagios), "The Selkie Wife" (Scirocco), "Jane's Thumb" (Signature), and "Charming and Rose: True Love (Blizzard).
She dramaturges, directs and produces for stage and regional and national radio and was the host/producer of CBC Saskatchewan’s radio arts performance hour SoundXchange.
She has been a workshop leader in creative process, writing, performance, and creative non-fiction writing and production for more than twenty years.
She is a cultural citizen, serving on Saskatchewan Arts Board juries, judging awards and competitions, a sought-after speaker and panel member for many conferences and arts events, past president of the Saskatchewan Playwrights’ Centre, and past executive member of the Playwrights’ Guild of Canada.
She was 2009 winner of the Saskatchewan Lieutenant-Governor’s Award for Leadership in the Arts, the 2009 City of Regina Writing Award (her third time receiving that award), and the 2008 Saskatoon and Area Theatre Award for Playwriting.
While she has yet to earn any awards for it, she is the mother of three.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
June 18, 2026
I read this memoir almost by accident, as it popped up as something I might like. The title and cover intrigued me, as did Burke's writing style, gentle, self-deprecating humor, and her bitter honesty. So, I definitely liked it.
Once again, I was unfamiliar with this award-winning playwright who grew up in Maine until her family moved her to Canada. However, since I can tolerate pretty much anybody for 168 pages, I figured I'd give it a go. The whole time I was reading, I kept wondering how much of her beautiful writing gets conveyed in play form, when so much of playwriting is dialogue-centric. For her memoir, much of the Pretty Parts are in the narration, the part that would just be the stage direction for the actors in a script. Of course, she's clearly doing just fine, what with all of her awards and such. I was just curious about that.
Like all of us, Burke has faced trauma in her life, and for her, much of it centered around her grandparents' home in York, Maine. The author receives funding that enables her to return to this home (which has new owners) in order to write about it. Burke heads there to jog her memory of important childhood events, sure. But it's more than that. For the author, this project was really one part writing and three parts investigation. She spends her days combing through these events--with us by her side--in an effort to figure out why on earth she's so anxious all the time.
Her grandfather did murder her grandmother (which is divulged on the back of the book), so she's assuming that might have something to do with it. But one of the central ideas is how memory simply can't be trusted. Which she shares with us immediately before sharing over 150 pages of memories that may or may not be trustworthy.
While staying in and around her grandparents' former home, Burke taps various memories of her time spent on the Gold Coast (before renouncing her US citizenship--which she admittedly figured might make re-entering the states a bit tricky for this project. It didn't.). Directly across from her grandparents' place is York's famous Nubble Lighthouse, which functions as a touchpoint throughout the narrative. Burke recalls all that the lighthouse symbolizes both then and now. And she gingerly nods at Fitzgerald, saying that she reached for that light(house) and shuddered a time or two in her life.
Like most memoirs, this book isn't linear but it is indeed cohesive, with everything pointing back to her childhood events in New England. Burke's storytelling is the perfect combination of lyrical language, gentle humor, and honest discoveries--about herself and others.
And as soon as I was done, I immediately looked up what other titles she has published. So, that's high praise.
******************
MY RATING SYSTEM
★★★★★ (5 stars): Loved it. New favorite. Already recommending it to anyone who will listen.
★★★★☆ (4 stars): Really liked it. A solid read I’d happily recommend.
★★★☆☆ (3 stars): Liked it. Glad I read it, but it probably won’t live rent-free in my head.
★★☆☆☆ (2 stars): Not for me. Finished it, but mostly out of sheer readerly stubbornness. Felt like a job.
★☆☆☆☆ (1 star): Hard pass. Loathed or DNF’d. So many books, so little time.
Once again, I was unfamiliar with this award-winning playwright who grew up in Maine until her family moved her to Canada. However, since I can tolerate pretty much anybody for 168 pages, I figured I'd give it a go. The whole time I was reading, I kept wondering how much of her beautiful writing gets conveyed in play form, when so much of playwriting is dialogue-centric. For her memoir, much of the Pretty Parts are in the narration, the part that would just be the stage direction for the actors in a script. Of course, she's clearly doing just fine, what with all of her awards and such. I was just curious about that.
Like all of us, Burke has faced trauma in her life, and for her, much of it centered around her grandparents' home in York, Maine. The author receives funding that enables her to return to this home (which has new owners) in order to write about it. Burke heads there to jog her memory of important childhood events, sure. But it's more than that. For the author, this project was really one part writing and three parts investigation. She spends her days combing through these events--with us by her side--in an effort to figure out why on earth she's so anxious all the time.
Her grandfather did murder her grandmother (which is divulged on the back of the book), so she's assuming that might have something to do with it. But one of the central ideas is how memory simply can't be trusted. Which she shares with us immediately before sharing over 150 pages of memories that may or may not be trustworthy.
While staying in and around her grandparents' former home, Burke taps various memories of her time spent on the Gold Coast (before renouncing her US citizenship--which she admittedly figured might make re-entering the states a bit tricky for this project. It didn't.). Directly across from her grandparents' place is York's famous Nubble Lighthouse, which functions as a touchpoint throughout the narrative. Burke recalls all that the lighthouse symbolizes both then and now. And she gingerly nods at Fitzgerald, saying that she reached for that light(house) and shuddered a time or two in her life.
Like most memoirs, this book isn't linear but it is indeed cohesive, with everything pointing back to her childhood events in New England. Burke's storytelling is the perfect combination of lyrical language, gentle humor, and honest discoveries--about herself and others.
And as soon as I was done, I immediately looked up what other titles she has published. So, that's high praise.
******************
MY RATING SYSTEM
★★★★★ (5 stars): Loved it. New favorite. Already recommending it to anyone who will listen.
★★★★☆ (4 stars): Really liked it. A solid read I’d happily recommend.
★★★☆☆ (3 stars): Liked it. Glad I read it, but it probably won’t live rent-free in my head.
★★☆☆☆ (2 stars): Not for me. Finished it, but mostly out of sheer readerly stubbornness. Felt like a job.
★☆☆☆☆ (1 star): Hard pass. Loathed or DNF’d. So many books, so little time.
June 20, 2022
A very fragmented memoir with some great passages, though in the audiobook certain sections are separated by bell rings which is quite annoying.
August 18, 2026
Gave me anxiety to read it. To be fair, the title was a fair warning
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews