In this Book
- The Lost Journals of Sylvia Plath: A Novel
- Book
- 2015
- Published by: Cornell University Press
- Series: Switchgrass Books
Finalist, 2015 Midwest Book Award Chicago Book Review Best Book of 2015 Set in the frozen wasteland of Midwestern academia, The Lost Journals of Sylvia Plath introduces Wilson A. Lavender, father of three, instructor of women's studies, and self-proclaimed genius who is beginning to think he knows nothing about women. He spends much of his time in his office not working on his dissertation, a creative piece titled "The Lost Journals of Sylvia Plath." A sober alcoholic, he also spends much of his time not drinking, until he hooks up with his office mate, Alice Cherry, an undercover stripper who introduces him to "the buffer"—the chemical solution to his woes.
Wilson's wife, Katie, is an anxious hippie, genuine earth mother, and recent PhD with no plans other than to read People magazine, eat chocolate, and seduce her young neighbor—a community college student who has built a bar in his garage. Intelligent and funny, Katie is haunted by a violent childhood. Her husband's "tortured genius" both exhausts and amuses her.
The Lavenders' stagnant world is roiled when Katie's pregnant sister, January, moves in. Obsessed with her lost love, '80s rocker Stevie Flame, January is on a quest to reconnect with her glittery, big-haired past. A free spirit to the point of using other people's toothbrushes without asking, she drives Wilson crazy. Exploring the landscape of family life, troubled relationships, dreams of the future, and nightmares of the past, Knutsen has conjured a literary gem filled with humor and sorrow, Aqua Net and Scooby-Doo, diapers and benzodiazepines—all the detritus and horror and beauty of modern life.
Table of Contents
- Title Page, Copyright Page
- pp. i-iv
- Acknowledgments
- pp. ix-xii
- Part One - In the Vagina
- pp. 1-2
- Part Two - The Rock Star
- pp. 91-92
- Chapter 10
- pp. 93-94
- Chapter 11
- pp. 95-104
- Chapter 12
- pp. 105-113
- Chapter 13
- pp. 114-124
- Part Three - Shelter
- pp. 125-126
- Chapter 14
- pp. 127-148
- Chapter 15
- pp. 149-160
- Chapter 16
- pp. 161-184
- Chapter 17
- pp. 185-189
- Chapter 18
- pp. 190-208
- Chapter 19
- pp. 209-214
- Part Four - California Girl
- pp. 215-216
- Chapter 20
- p. 217
- Chapter 21
- pp. 218-223
- Chapter 22
- pp. 224-229
- Chapter 23
- pp. 230-258
- Chapter 24
- pp. 259-262
- Part Five - Ectomy
- pp. 263-264
- Chapter 25
- pp. 265-273
- Chapter 26
- pp. 274-319
- Chapter 27
- pp. 320-326
- Chapter 28
- pp. 327-338
- Part Six - Wildflower
- pp. 339-340
- Chapter 29
- pp. 341-342
- Chapter 30
- pp. 343-349
- Chapter 31
- pp. 350-358
- Chapter 32
- pp. 359-364
- Part Seven - Edge
- pp. 365-366
- Chapter 33
- pp. 367-376