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The Memory Palace
The rooms in The Memory Palace are filled with holy relics, profane agonies, memories that are revelations, and windows to wonders . . . A significant poetry collection by JoSelle Vanderhooft, dealing with the raw themes of youth, pain, the Catholic faith, and the challenges of growing up gay. Structured around the Renaissance mnemonic device of a building with rooms populated by thoughts and objects, THE MEMORY PALACE is a lucid dream, a remarkably powerful memoir, and a fantasy. "Inside The Memory Palace , JoSelle Vanderhooft constructs a painfully honest memoir in free verse, detailing one talented young woman's odyssey past the monsters of mental illness, through the brutal clash between faith and sexuality, always haunted by the terrible enigma of a father's suicide -- yet these traumas are counterbalanced by earnest hope and the small, sweet moments life grants to fighters and survivors. Her eloquent and eminently readable story will resonate with any one who's ever found themselves an alien in their own world, peering in at society from the outside."
-- Mike Allen , three-time Rhysling Award winner and editor of Mythic Delirium
-- Mike Allen , three-time Rhysling Award winner and editor of Mythic Delirium
- GenresPoetry
164 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2009
29 people want to read
About the author
JoSelle Vanderhooft
26 books37 followersA dramaturg and something of a lapsed playwright, Vanderhooft works as a freelance journalist, poet and fiction writer. Her work has appeared or will soon appear in print and online in such venues as Aofie’s Kiss, Byzarium, Cabinet des Fées, Jabberwocky, Not One of Us, MYTHIC, Mythic Delirium, Reflections Edge, Star*Line and several others.
To date, she has published seven poetry books: 10,000 Several Doors (Cat’s Eye Publishing, 2005), The Minotaur’s Last Letter to His Mother (2007, Ash Phoenix Press, to be re-released by Sam’s Dot Publishing in the future), Ossuary (2007, Sam’s Dot Publishing), The Handless Maiden and Other Tales Twice Told (2008 Sam’s Dot Publishing), The Memory Palace (2009, Norilana Books) and Fathers, Daughters, Ghosts & Monsters (2009, VanZeno Press).
Her first novel The Tale of the Miller’s Daughter was released from Papaveria Press in June, 2006 and her second and third, Owl Skin, and Ebenezer, a retelling of A Christmas Carol, are forthcoming from Papaveria and Drollerie Press, respectively . She edited the Torquere Press anthology of lesbian fairytales Sleeping Beauty, Indeed (reissued in 2009 by Lethe Press) as well as Steam-Powered: Lesbian Steampunk Stories (2011, Torquere Press) and (with Catherine Lundoff) Hellebore & Rue, an anthology of stories about lesbian magic users (Drollerie Press, 2010). Bitten By Moonlight, an anthology of lesbian werewolf stories, will be released from Zumaya Books in 2011.
To date, she has published seven poetry books: 10,000 Several Doors (Cat’s Eye Publishing, 2005), The Minotaur’s Last Letter to His Mother (2007, Ash Phoenix Press, to be re-released by Sam’s Dot Publishing in the future), Ossuary (2007, Sam’s Dot Publishing), The Handless Maiden and Other Tales Twice Told (2008 Sam’s Dot Publishing), The Memory Palace (2009, Norilana Books) and Fathers, Daughters, Ghosts & Monsters (2009, VanZeno Press).
Her first novel The Tale of the Miller’s Daughter was released from Papaveria Press in June, 2006 and her second and third, Owl Skin, and Ebenezer, a retelling of A Christmas Carol, are forthcoming from Papaveria and Drollerie Press, respectively . She edited the Torquere Press anthology of lesbian fairytales Sleeping Beauty, Indeed (reissued in 2009 by Lethe Press) as well as Steam-Powered: Lesbian Steampunk Stories (2011, Torquere Press) and (with Catherine Lundoff) Hellebore & Rue, an anthology of stories about lesbian magic users (Drollerie Press, 2010). Bitten By Moonlight, an anthology of lesbian werewolf stories, will be released from Zumaya Books in 2011.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 22, 2009
The Bravest Woman I Know
I just read the poetry memoir of the bravest woman I know. The book is The Memory Palace, by JoSelle Vanderhooft. I’ve known JoSelle for a few years now and consider her a friend, as well as an incredibly gifted writer and poet. She’s had much critical acclaim and was recently nominated for a Stoker award.
She’s the real deal. Have no doubt.
The Memory Palace is so strong that it would have blown me away regardless if I knew the author or not, and was worth every penny of the twelve dollars I spent on it.
The first four poems, all in free verse, Entering the Memory Palace, Too Many Birthdays, Colorado, and Inheritance just blew my mind. She knocked the ball out of the park, got a standing ovation, and sucked me in like she had pulled me into the deep end of the pool and tied a bag of sledge hammers to my legs.
This is her life-story told with poems so engaging you’ll probably read the whole 161 page book in one sitting. I did.
You want to find out what happens next and I was captivated by her brutal honesty, and the poignant glimpses into the soul of the strange-looking kid nearly everyone picked on.
It takes a really tough guy to pick on the weird girl in the playground, terrorizing her physically and mentally all through their school years. The same assholes who did that are in jail now, or have turned their aggression to their wives or poor children—who will in turn probably keep the cycle going. We are sick and twisted maniacs to target the most vulnerable among us. And we call them crazy?
None of the idiotic muscle heads who now dig ditches for a living can even compete with the bravery JoSelle showed by writing this book and then putting it out there for everyone to read. Baring your soul to complete strangers takes tremendous courage and I applaud her for doing that.
She might be a bisexual lapsed Catholic with emotional problems, but she has balls of pure steel, and the determination to reach for her dreams no matter what tragedy or challenge befalls her. It’s never easy for her, but why should it be? Life sucks sometimes, but do you let it grind you into dust or do you become mud and stick to life’s boots? Like the rest of us, JoSelle does a little of both.
I would like to think that if I was there during the bad times in her youth, she would have been my friend and I would have stood at her side. Making someone an outcast doesn’t solve any problems.
The Memory Palace is a collection of life’s worst and best moments written down by an extremely talented writer and playwright. This is a memoir with love, hate, acne, frizzy hair, and lots of fear. Sound familiar?
The story of her life is mine now, and no one will read it exactly like I did. There is little doubt in my mind that when you finish reading, the work will simmer in your veins like it’s simmering in mine now.
Paul Genesse
Author of Greg and Eli
A short story featured in Imaginary Friends (DAW Books)
www.paulgenesse.com
I just read the poetry memoir of the bravest woman I know. The book is The Memory Palace, by JoSelle Vanderhooft. I’ve known JoSelle for a few years now and consider her a friend, as well as an incredibly gifted writer and poet. She’s had much critical acclaim and was recently nominated for a Stoker award.
She’s the real deal. Have no doubt.
The Memory Palace is so strong that it would have blown me away regardless if I knew the author or not, and was worth every penny of the twelve dollars I spent on it.
The first four poems, all in free verse, Entering the Memory Palace, Too Many Birthdays, Colorado, and Inheritance just blew my mind. She knocked the ball out of the park, got a standing ovation, and sucked me in like she had pulled me into the deep end of the pool and tied a bag of sledge hammers to my legs.
This is her life-story told with poems so engaging you’ll probably read the whole 161 page book in one sitting. I did.
You want to find out what happens next and I was captivated by her brutal honesty, and the poignant glimpses into the soul of the strange-looking kid nearly everyone picked on.
It takes a really tough guy to pick on the weird girl in the playground, terrorizing her physically and mentally all through their school years. The same assholes who did that are in jail now, or have turned their aggression to their wives or poor children—who will in turn probably keep the cycle going. We are sick and twisted maniacs to target the most vulnerable among us. And we call them crazy?
None of the idiotic muscle heads who now dig ditches for a living can even compete with the bravery JoSelle showed by writing this book and then putting it out there for everyone to read. Baring your soul to complete strangers takes tremendous courage and I applaud her for doing that.
She might be a bisexual lapsed Catholic with emotional problems, but she has balls of pure steel, and the determination to reach for her dreams no matter what tragedy or challenge befalls her. It’s never easy for her, but why should it be? Life sucks sometimes, but do you let it grind you into dust or do you become mud and stick to life’s boots? Like the rest of us, JoSelle does a little of both.
I would like to think that if I was there during the bad times in her youth, she would have been my friend and I would have stood at her side. Making someone an outcast doesn’t solve any problems.
The Memory Palace is a collection of life’s worst and best moments written down by an extremely talented writer and playwright. This is a memoir with love, hate, acne, frizzy hair, and lots of fear. Sound familiar?
The story of her life is mine now, and no one will read it exactly like I did. There is little doubt in my mind that when you finish reading, the work will simmer in your veins like it’s simmering in mine now.
Paul Genesse
Author of Greg and Eli
A short story featured in Imaginary Friends (DAW Books)
www.paulgenesse.com
February 19, 2014
Very well written. I grew up with Joselle, and she was also one of my closest friends when we were little kids. I am honored to be a part of the book. It was a real treat to be taken back to an innocent (and some not so innocent) time. As growing up with her, I knew exactly what she was going through and some of who she was talking about as I went through the same things as she did. We kinda parted ways after high school, but its great being friends with her through social media to touch base with her. I look forward to reading her other works, as she has always poured most of her life and soul into writing.
January 20, 2015
A poetry memoir is a tricky thing to create, in part because many prose readers will make assumptions about accessibility. And in this instance, that is precisely the wrong thing to assume. This is a very accessible, often moving work, with some lovely imagery. Recommended, especially for a younger LGBTQ audience wrestling with issues around mental illness and belonging, as well as those who care about them.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews