The debut collection of short fiction by Shane Neilson explores a spectrum of narratives, from vivid portrayals of East Coast life grappling with alcoholism and the struggles of farming, to innovative experimental pieces that challenge language and structure. The writing blends dense, lyrical prose with creative experimentation, showcasing Neilson's versatility and depth as a storyteller.
Poems mapping the many contours of history-political, social, personal, and spiritual-and considering the ways we shape and are shaped by the land.
This is Shane Neilson's manic statement, arching backwards through his personal histories and into the current scale of illness.
The book delves into the intersection of poetry and medicine, highlighting how poetic appreciation can enhance medical practice. By 'defamiliarising' established habits, it encourages a fresh perspective on patient care through poetic techniques of 'close reading.' This exploration reveals the potential for a deeper emotional and intellectual engagement within the medical field, suggesting that the arts can significantly inform and enrich clinical experiences.
Exploring the intersection of literature and healthcare, this book offers innovative frameworks for analyzing Canadian literature. It delves into how the nation's unique cultural fabric informs its literary works, providing insights into themes that intertwine with medical narratives. The text invites readers to reconsider the significance of Canadian literature through a lens that highlights its connections to health and medicine, thus enriching the understanding of both fields.
Why do we fall ill? How do we get better? When his two-year old son develops epilepsy, Shane Neilson, a doctor, struggles to obtain timely medical care for him. Saving shares his family's journey through the medical system, and also Shane's own personal journey as a father who feels powerless when faced with his child's illness. The memoir entwines these stories with Shane's personal history of mental illness as a child and his professional experience with disability. By exploring the theme of family, Shane Neilson manages to show that, over time, it is possible to not only escape the wreckage of the past, but to celebrate living with a disability in the present.
Conceived as an archive of wisdom written by a disabled man for his children, You May Not Take the Sad and Angry Consolations gives voice to the experience of living in an ableist society: "Why does it hurt when emotion spills out of a body? How does emotion spell 'body'? What does it mean to be good? Why is the surplus of beauty everywhere? What is the password?" Weaving together reflections on fatherhood, Walt Whitman's place in American history, art, and the lingering effects of past trauma, these ringing and raw poems theorize on the concept of shame, its intended purpose, and its effects for and on disabled body-minds.