History Is Embarrassing

A collection of essays full of startling directness, fearlessness, and surprise. Filled with profound reflections and snapshots from the past, Karen Chase s History is Embarrassing weaves together threads from one single life a girl suffering from polio, a poet, a Jewish woman, a writer, and a painter. Like Chase, the characters who populate these essays are outsiders undercover cops, a gay couple in 1500s India, bear poachers, psychiatric patients, and even a president each a meaningful part of history. Divided into three parts histories, pleasures, and horrors History is Embarrassing is an assortment of thought-provoking essays that are sure to resonate with many readers.