THE PHARMACIST’S MATE AND 8

Amy Fusselman’s first two books, The Pharmacist’s Mate and 8, weave surprising beauty out of diverse strands of personal reflection. Half memoir and half philosophical improvisation, each focuses loosely on a relationship with a man in the author’s life: The Pharmacist’s Mate with her recently deceased father, and 8 with “my pedophile” (as Fusselman painfully refers to her childhood assailant). Along the way, Fusselman covers sea shanties and artificial insemination, World War II and AC/DC, alternative healers and monster-truck videos. Fusselman’s “wholly original epigrammatic style” (Vogue) “makes the world strange again, a place where dying and making life are equally mysterious and miraculous activities” (Time Out New York).

Read an excerpt from 8 right here, and also, this excerpt from The Pharmacist’s Mate. For the McSweeney’s Books Author Q&A with Amy Fusselman, click here.

Praise for The Pharmacist’s Mate and 8:

“The writer’s skill — she deftly weaves together her spurts of diary-style insight with passages from her dad’s journals circa World War II—quickly shines through. The loss of a loved one, especially a parent, inevitably forces a person to examine her own mortality, which Fusselman does with wry humor and a sense of wonder.”
—Washington Post

”The Pharmacist’s Mate and 8 changed me, just a little bit, the way I always hope a book will.”
—SF Weekly

Praise for The Pharmacist’s Mate:

“It is impossible not to surrender to Amy Fusselman’s lovely, haunting voice and strange meditations.”
—Amanda Davis

“Ms. Fusselman’s book, brief as it is, affected me deeply. Not only that, the talent displayed therein was somewhat unnerving.”
—Zadie Smith

“One of the best books about loss I’ve ever read.”
—Rosie O’Donnell

“Fusselman’s conversational, intimate voice and heartfelt musings charm the reader. In less than 100 pages she movingly conjures an impressive emotional depth and range, making The Pharmacist’s Mate seem like a much longer work.”
—San Francisco Chronicle

“This sweet, sincere story of Fusselman’s attempts to get pregnant by artificial insemination and to come to terms with her father’s death is told in a wholly original epigrammatic style.”
—Vogue

Praise for 8:

“A sweet, brave, funny, and scary book written by Holden Caulfield’s older sister. 8 is a 10!”
—Danny Gregory, author of Everyday Matters

“It can be remarkably difficult to meditate on joy, especially when joy is laced with serious ugliness and trauma. Amy Fusselman’s 8 calmly and incisively takes on this important task. With admirable economy, 8 offers an expansive philosophy of the everyday which is both impatient with convention and rich with god heart.”
—Maggie Nelson, author of The Red Parts and Jane: a Murder