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Bibliophobia : a memoir / Sarah Chihaya.

Chihaya, Sarah, (author.).

Summary:

"Have you ever read a book and felt so gutted by it that you knew you'd never recover? That it made you sit differently in your own skin? A book that complicated everything you believed in and changed the way you read the world around you forever? This is what Sarah Chihaya calls a "Life Ruiner". Sarah's Life Ruiner was The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison. When she read it in her high school English class, she could no longer pretend not to notice how alien she felt as a Japanese American in a predominantly White suburb of Cleveland. Shaken, she set out on a quest-for the book that would show her who she was and how to live in an inhospitable world. There were lots of scripts available, and she tried to follow them-skinny athlete, angsty artist, ambitious academic. But a lifelong struggle with depression thwarted the resolution to every plot, and when she was hospitalized for a nervous breakdown, the world became an unreadable blank page. In the aftermath, she was faced with a question: can we ever truly rewrite the stories that govern our lives? Alternately searing and laugh-out-loud funny, Bibliophobia is a deft combination of memoir and criticism in the vein of Geoff Dyer and Olivia Laing. Through a series of books, including The Bluest Eye, Anne of Green Gables, Possession, A Tale for the Time Being, and The Last Samurai, Sarah Chihaya interrogates her cultural identity, her relationship with depression, and the necessary and painful ways that books can push back on the readers who love them"-- Provided by publisher.

Record details

  • ISBN: 9780593594728
  • ISBN: 059359472X
  • ISBN: 9780593594742
  • Physical Description: xiv, 214 pages ; 22 cm
  • Edition: First edition.
  • Publisher: New York : Random House, 2025

Content descriptions

Formatted Contents Note:
Bibliophobia -- Canadian world -- Cut, shuffle, cut -- The non-existent pelt -- A glass essay -- A tale for nonbeing -- Unquiet graves -- Epilogue. Yarrow stalks.
Subject:
Chihaya, Sarah > Books and reading.
Chihaya, Sarah > Mental health.
Critics > United States > Biography.
Books and reading > Psychological aspects.
Genre:
Autobiographies.

Available copies

  • 15 of 16 copies available at NC Cardinal. (Show)
  • 1 of 1 copy available at McDowell County Public Library.

Holds

  • 0 current holds with 16 total copies.
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Location Call Number / Copy Notes Barcode Shelving Location Status Due Date
Marion Library BIO CHI (Text) 37810460011611 Adult New Biography Available -

Accessibility Features

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24510. ‡aBibliophobia : ‡ba memoir / ‡cSarah Chihaya.
250 . ‡aFirst edition.
264 1. ‡aNew York : ‡bRandom House, ‡c2025
264 4. ‡c©2025
300 . ‡axiv, 214 pages ; ‡c22 cm
336 . ‡atext ‡btxt ‡2rdacontent
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5050 . ‡aBibliophobia -- Canadian world -- Cut, shuffle, cut -- The non-existent pelt -- A glass essay -- A tale for nonbeing -- Unquiet graves -- Epilogue. Yarrow stalks.
520 . ‡a"Have you ever read a book and felt so gutted by it that you knew you'd never recover? That it made you sit differently in your own skin? A book that complicated everything you believed in and changed the way you read the world around you forever? This is what Sarah Chihaya calls a "Life Ruiner". Sarah's Life Ruiner was The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison. When she read it in her high school English class, she could no longer pretend not to notice how alien she felt as a Japanese American in a predominantly White suburb of Cleveland. Shaken, she set out on a quest-for the book that would show her who she was and how to live in an inhospitable world. There were lots of scripts available, and she tried to follow them-skinny athlete, angsty artist, ambitious academic. But a lifelong struggle with depression thwarted the resolution to every plot, and when she was hospitalized for a nervous breakdown, the world became an unreadable blank page. In the aftermath, she was faced with a question: can we ever truly rewrite the stories that govern our lives? Alternately searing and laugh-out-loud funny, Bibliophobia is a deft combination of memoir and criticism in the vein of Geoff Dyer and Olivia Laing. Through a series of books, including The Bluest Eye, Anne of Green Gables, Possession, A Tale for the Time Being, and The Last Samurai, Sarah Chihaya interrogates her cultural identity, her relationship with depression, and the necessary and painful ways that books can push back on the readers who love them"-- ‡cProvided by publisher.
60010. ‡aChihaya, Sarah ‡xBooks and reading.
60010. ‡aChihaya, Sarah ‡xMental health.
650 0. ‡aCritics ‡zUnited States ‡vBiography. ‡0(CARDINAL)336295
650 0. ‡aBooks and reading ‡xPsychological aspects. ‡0(CARDINAL)299798
655 7. ‡aAutobiographies. ‡2lcgft ‡0(CARDINAL)334997
77608. ‡iOnline version: ‡aChihaya, Sarah. ‡tBibliophobia ‡bFirst edition. ‡dNew York : Random House, [2025] ‡z9780593594735 ‡w(DLC) 2024035564
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