Stitches: A MemoirA Publishers Weekly Top Ten Best Book of the Year An Amazon.com Top Ten Best Book of 2009 A Washington Post Book World’s Ten Best Book of the Year A California Literary Review Best Book of 2009 An L.A. Times Top 25 Non-Fiction Book of 2009 An NPR Best Book of the Year, Best Memoir With this stunning graphic memoir, David Small takes readers on an unforgettable journey into the dark heart of his tumultuous childhood in 1950s Detroit, in a coming-of-age tale like no other. At the age of fourteen, David awoke from a supposedly harmless operation to discover his throat had been slashed and one of his vocal chords removed, leaving him a virtual mute. No one had told him that he had cancer and was expected to die. The resulting silence was in keeping with the atmosphere of secrecy and repressed frustration that pervaded the Small household and revealed itself in the slamming of cupboard doors, the thumping of a punching bag, the beating of a drum. Believing that they were doing their best, David’s parents did just the reverse. David’s mother held the family emotionally hostage with her furious withdrawals, even as she kept her emotions hidden — including from herself. His father, rarely present, was a radiologist, and although David grew up looking at X-rays and drawing on X-ray paper, it would be years before he discovered the shocking consequences of his father’s faith in science. A work of great bravery and humanity, Stitches is a gripping and ultimately redemptive story of a man’s struggle to understand the past and reclaim his voice. |
Contents
Section 1 | 21 |
Section 2 | 56 |
Section 3 | 82 |
Section 4 | 90 |
Section 5 | 130 |
Section 6 | 182 |
Section 7 | 183 |
Section 8 | 186 |
Section 11 | 215 |
Section 12 | 217 |
Section 13 | 268 |
Section 14 | 273 |
Section 15 | 297 |
Section 16 | 298 |
Section 17 | 303 |
Section 18 | 331 |
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Common terms and phrases
AFRAID AIN’T BABY BACK BECAME BEGAN BETTY BILL BLACK BOOK BORN BREATHING BROTHER CALL CANCER CHEST CLOSED COMING COURSE CRAZY CYST DAD’S DANCING DAVID DEAR DETROIT DING DOCTOR DON’T DOOR DREAM EVERYTHING FAMILY FEEL FELT FLOOR FOLLOWING FOUND FRIENDS FURNACE GARDEN GAVE GIVE GODDAMN GRANDMA GROWTH GUESS HAPPENED HEAR heart HELP HOME HOSPITAL HOUSE illustration INDIANA IT’S KLIK KNEW KNOW LANGUAGE LAST LEARNED LEAVE LIGHT LITTLE LIVED LOOK LOVE MAMA MEAN MONEY MORNING MOTHER mother died MOVED MURPHY NECK NEED NEIGHBOR NEVER NIGHT OFFICE ONCE OPERATION PAPA JOHN PARENTS PLACE PLAY PUFF PUFF RADIOLOGIST READING REAL RIGHT ROOM SCHOOL SCREAMING SENT SOON SOUND SPORT Stewart STOP STUPID SUPPER SURELY SURGERY TABLE TAKE TALK TELL thanks THAT’S THING THINK THOUGHT THREE THROAT TOOK UPSTAIRS VISIT VOCAL CORDS VOICE WALL WANT WATCH WEEK WHAT’S WIFE WRONG X-RAYS