{"product_id":"9781773102948","title":"Mercy Gene","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eThink Maggie Nelson meets Hannah Gadsby.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTold in kaleidoscopic bursts of erratic recollections, daydreams, poetry, and lists, \u003ci\u003eMercy Gene\u003c\/i\u003e is the powerful, genre-smashing debut work of auto-fiction by acclaimed writer, playwright, and comedian JD Derbyshire. Inspired by Derbyshire’s critically acclaimed and award-winning stage play, \u003ci\u003eCertified\u003c\/i\u003e, and anchored by protagonist Janice\/Jan\/JD, \u003ci\u003eMercy Gene\u003c\/i\u003e is a beautiful, humorous, and sometimes brutal look at queerness, gender confusion, institutionalization, addiction, and abuse. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThrough flashes of memory and imaginings, Derbyshire illustrates the intense and invisible “side effects” of psychiatric treatment and the unreliability of memory. In a stream-of-conscious narrative that provokes and consoles, eliciting tears and laughter at equal pace, Derbyshire re-examines a life of unspoken and repressed trauma. Between devastating bouts of depression, hilarious side-quests into the author’s dryly sardonic inner monologue, helpless moments at the mercy of their own psyche, and tour-de-force appearances by fictional versions of Miriam Toews and the late, great Margot Kidder, Derbyshire leads readers through a non-linear narrative to treatment, forgiveness, and acceptance. \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"JD Derbyshire (CA)","offers":[{"title":"Paperback \/ softback Trade paperback (US) \/ Goose Lane Editions \/ 2023-03-14","offer_id":43658770415871,"sku":"9781773102948","price":22.95,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0329\/9075\/7001\/products\/71vCTDEcFnL.jpg?v=1678811408","url":"https:\/\/riverbookshop.com\/products\/9781773102948","provider":"River Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}