In this book of poems and essays Jennifer Faus explores trauma and loss-A choice on September 11; a father and son mourning the woman they loved; a veteran living with PTSD; a woman raped by her husband; a forest healing after a fire.
Poetry is not my favorite written form of expression but Jennifer Faus's THE SLOTTED SPOON combines it with essays and often stream of consciousness prose in a gut-wrenching, diary-like, sometimes essay-like anthology. Her final essay-short-short story about September 11 is both mesmerizing and horrifying. In only two and one quarter pages, she has captured the emotional devastation of that day by describing how two strangers trapped inside of a Twin Tower help one another 'cope.' Reading Jennifer Faus reminded me of author Sara Pritchard's ( Bakeless Prize for Fiction) books: Crackpots, Help Wanted: Female and Lately. They are insightful, highly skilled writers who can effortlessly lift us up again after they have sent us crashing to the ground emotionally.
