On the literary nonfiction of Nancy Mairs

"Where much of the existing scholarship on Nancy Mairs has approached her essays in the context of disability studies, this book seeks to broaden the conversation through a wider range of critical perspectives and with attention to underrepresented aspects of Mairs's oeuvre. With particular attention to the ways Mairs shapes her essays around a variety of "unspeakables"--such as depression, female sexuality and infidelity, mortality and death, or the struggle for faith in a post-modern world--this collection demonstrates Mairs's provocative combination of bold ethics and subtle aesthetics"-- "On the Literary Nonfiction of Nancy Mairs is the first critical anthology devoted to the work of one of the most significant contemporary American essayists. The collection brings together new and established scholars in the fields of autobiography and disability studies, women's and gender studies, and feminist theology to address the philosophical and formal complexities of Mairs's work. Chapters offer close textual readings; employ a wide range of critical perspectives; and attend to frequently elided subjects in Mairs's repertoire, such as depression, female sexuality and infidelity, morta