Jason McBride

Eat Your Mind from Jason McBride is probably as complete of a biography of Kathy Acker as we'll ever get. In piecing together everything available the reader gets a wonderful view of a singular talent.

Contrary to what you might hear, this isn't really a "gossipy" biography, unless one considers using the gossip the subject used in creating various personas being gossipy. But as for McBride's writing itself, it is not gossipy. That said, when collecting contradictory comments from Acker, interviews with friends, and the wealth of written material, McBride has no choice in places but to make educated guesses. He does make it clear that this will be a biography with holes, and that is just how Acker would have wanted it.

While anyone with an interest in Acker's work will find a lot to enjoy here, I think the book is written in such an engaging manner that even someone less familiar with her, but with an interest in reading biographies, will also find the book rewarding. In other words, you don't need to have a lot of knowledge of Acker to appreciate this as a biography. Those with an interest in her, however, will find a lot to help them better understand, or at least begin to understand, her.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.… (mehr)