ALONE TOGETHER: Love, Grief, and Comfort During the Time of COVID-19 is a collection of essays, poems, and interviews to serve as a lifeline for negotiating how to connect and thrive during this stressful time of isolation as well as a historical perspective that will remain relevant for years to come. All net profits will be donated to The Book Industry Charitable Foundation, a nonprofit … nonprofit organization that coordinates charitable programs to strengthen the bookselling community. Ms. Haupt rallied a diverse roster of more than 90 authors to contribute their work to ALONE TOGETHER, free of charge, including Kwame Alexander, Jenna Blum, Andre Dubus III, Jamie Ford, Nikki Giovanni, Pam Houston, Jean Kwok, Major Jackson, Caroline Leavitt, Ada Limón, Dani Shapiro, David Sheff, Garth Stein, Luis Alberto Urrea, Steve Yarbrough, and Lidia Yuknavitch. ALONE TOGETHER is divided into five sections: What Now?, Grieve, Comfort, Connect, And Don’t Stop. The overarching theme is how this age of isolation and uncertainty holds the possibility of changing us as individuals and a society.
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I wasn’t sure I was ready to read a book about Covid – still living, as we are, through it. But it was strangely absorbing to read short stories and poems by writers around the country about how it had affected their lives. How they were coping.
This book is a collection of essays, poems and interviews from over 90 authors and poets about how COVID 19 has affected them and their lives. The essays are a powerful testament to the unprecedented times that the world is going through collectively. Some of essays made me laugh and some made me cry, just like life right now. It was wonderful to read these pieces of literature to remind me that I’m not alone in my feelings of loss – loss of freedom, loss of friends and family and a loss of the life we were living before the pandemic struck.
ALONE TOGETHER is divided into five sections: What Now?, Grieve, Comfort, Connect, And Don’t Stop. The main theme is how this age of isolation and uncertainty is changing us as individuals and a society. It’s a connection for those of us who are depressed about what is going on and fearful of the changes that may occur in our futures. I was crushed by the essays that spoke of family members and friends who had died from COVID19 and the essays about people who lived by themselves and were truly alone. I was uplifted by the people who were helping their neighbors by buying groceries or baking for them. I was happy to see all of the ways that people were using to connect with other people. But most of all, I was relieved to know that others were feeling the same sense of loss and confusion, the same worries about the future and their loved ones as I am. The book left me with a feeling of connection to others as we al struggle on a daily basis and hope and pray for a better future for the world.
Jennifer Haupt has gathered a wonderful collection of works written on COVID by several authors . The writer Luis Alberto Urrea gives us insight into the action we must take after COVID . He writes “We literally stopped our world for each other . Now it’s time to get your ass outside and live for each other .Work,March and sing Do not stop !Write your story across the sky and don’t despair, because despair is the most powerful weapon of the dominant . It will only make you weary and ultimately afraid of the light!In the introduction the editor Jennifer Haupt of Alone Together reminds us to engage in the world ,don’t shrink from it.The fate of our civilizations lie entirely in your hands She tells us telling our stories gives us a voice . The ancient Egyptians said “So it is written So it will be.As Luis Alberto Urrea writes “Our destiny is in our hands !
What a beautiful compilation of essays about life during the Covid-19 Pandemic. Truly a great collection, with so much varied content, moods and feelings. Let’s be honest, the pandemic hit everyone, and it hit everyone truly differently. Yet we’re all in the same boat. We’re all living through the same pandemic, but in different ways.
Poems, interviews, essays, short stories – this collection runs the gamut. The writing styles vary, the narration styles vary, and I have to say not only will everyone find something to relate to as they experience this collection, but they will also come out the other side with a better understanding of how others are experiencing this time, and perhaps some empathy and acknowledgement that we’re not all having the same experience, but we are all being challenged and changing just the same.
This title is perfect really. While the world is still isolated this made me feel connected. It also made me realize how blessed I am. This book is an essay containing around 90 authors. They were asked to write about their experience during the Covid pandemic. All kinds of race, background, ethics, beliefs included. Some entries were short simple poems. With struggling to deal myself, at times reading this was too much to take in. So I read a little at a time. We really are in this together! At some times there are strong language. A small percent of the book. If that bothers you may want to skip this one.
ALONE TOGETHER: Love, Grief, and Comfort During the Time of COVID-19 is a collection of essays, poems, and interviews. It is broken up into What Now?, Grieve, Comfort, Connect, And Don’t Stop. Some of these stories made me laugh and others made me cry. They showed me that I wasn’t the only one going through a multitude of feelings. I think this is a book we will be sharing with future generations.
Thank you to @jenniferhauptauthor @katerockbooktours @thinkingbinc and @grandcentralpub for an ebook to read and this is my honest review. All net profits will be donated to BINC – Book Industry Charitable Foundation. https://www.bincfoundation.org/
I felt moved reading what these authors put into words. I felt connected, feeling the same things these wonderful authors were, truly knowing we are all in this together. This is a book that can be read a little at a time, as each author’s contribution is short.
“Pick up your pen and write. Pick up a book and read. Engage in your world; do not shrink from it.” – Garth Stein
I’m excited to be sharing ALONE TOGETHER: Love, Grief & Comfort During the Time of COVID-19 as a part of Kate Rock Book Tours. This collection of essays, interviews & poems about the authors’ experiences during the pandemic comes out September 1st. All proceeds go to @thinkingbinc, a nonprofit that benefits the bookselling community.
“In telling our stores, we hope to enable you to tell your story. That’s the sweet spot of connections, where the healing happens.” – Jennifer Haupt
ALONE TOGETHER is divided into five sections: What Now?, Grieve, Comfort, Connect & Don’t Stop & focuses on how isolation & uncertainty is changing us as individuals & a society.
“So many of us, across political, racial, and socioeconomic lines, are grieving, but the question is how we’ll deal with it all. Will it paralyze us or motivate us?” – David Sheff
I wasn’t sure I was ready to read about Covid. Books are usually an escape for me & I worried this might add to my stress but it did the opposite. It helped to read about how others felt and their hope and optimism in the midst of this universal struggle.
“How are we going to make our blues beautiful? It’s all about perspective.” – Kwame Alexander
There are 91 authors in the ebook & audiobook (with 69 in the print book) & each viewpoint is enlightening in its own way.
“We grieve the chance to celebrate those we love in what used to be the big moments in life, in the time before every moment of life itself seemed so big.” – Meg Waite Clayton
ALONE TOGETHER left me feeling that although our lives are now divided into before Covid & after, there’s a good chance that our new world will be one that has positives we never imagined.
“We had very busy lives that would sometimes pull us in different directions, but in this period of lockdown, we have learned to make time for each other again.” – Jean Kwok
Thank you to Kate Rock Book Tours, NetGalley, Central Avenue Publishing & author for an ARC to review.
This is a book you should buy, even though you may or may not want to read it for a while. You may want to put a copy away like a time capsule, or use it to inspire your journaling during this challenging time.
It’s a fundraising anthology of short essays and poetry regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. Net proceeds will be donated to a foundation for independent bookstores. The e-book collects the work of 91 authors; the print edition will include 69.
So it’s for a good cause. Is it a good book?
Much of it, yes, very good. Stephen Kiernan’s “These Nights of Candles” is an aching howl of twilight loneliness, and the context in which it is shared (reading the poem over the phone to a friend taking an anxiety bath) is both tender and absurd, like so many pandemic connections. Poignant images in other pieces speak of fear, isolation, and the need for support – an author’s mysteriously withering trees; naming one’s sourdough starter (complete with gender-identified pronouns); a remote funeral where the Zoom mourners stand watch over the empty room once the body is removed, until someone finally remembers to turn them off.
Like any anthology, quality varies, and what I preferred may not be what you will favor. Some pieces were rougher than others, as though there was still some processing/polishing to be done. Others incorporated past work or events in ways that did not always resonate. I wish there had been more geographic diversity among the authors, as the representation favors the coasts, with an emphasis on Seattle. And even though I admired much of the work, it was challenging to absorb all these heavy emotions at a time when everything is all still present and close. (Kudos to Jean Kwok, who was funny and moving at the same time.)
This book will remind you and your family how this year felt – what we lost, what we gained, what we never want to lose again. It’s a book to buy, give, and keep. Maybe let it breathe a little.
Many thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.