Meg Remy--prolific artist, Juno-nominated musician, frontwoman for the experimental pop group U.S. Girls--offers a spare, powerful memoir in Begin by Telling. A hybrid of multiple forms, it is a mosaic: memoir by vignettes and lists, in screenplay, through illustration and via quotes.
And it sears. Remy maintains tight control over the momentum, using white space and shifting forms as the heaviest revelations sting or linger. She alternately recalls deeply personal traumas and meditates on Western culture, the United States in particular, and issues affecting the world globally. So, as much as Begin by Telling feels personal, it also paints a broader portrait of a woman amid complicated social and economic structures and political systems: family, friendships, the (U.S.) legal system, patriarchy, white supremacy, capitalism--and the myriad manifestations of violence therein.
Control and choice are prominent themes. Remy asks: "How come The World Trade Center gets a big billion-dollar memorial and New York's Municipal Slave Market--prong genesis of America (no World Trade Center without it)--gets a plastic sign that must compete for space with a no-dog-poop signpost.... These are not arbitrary choices. There is no 'random' when it comes to violence or memorials." Other memorable topics: the Clinton impeachment, Desert Storm, the Indianapolis 500, jet fuel.
Among the many writers and thinkers Remy quotes is Sarah Schulman: "Shame, to me, is hiding information that reveals common human experiences, contradictions and mistakes." Throughout, Remy shares bravely--by choice. Her reckoning is incisive, painful and, readers will hope, healing. --Katie Weed, freelance writer and reviewer