Word: sextons
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Gray Sexton successful in overcoming all of these obstacles when her mother seemed so ill-equipped to cope? The author allowed herself to confront, accept and forgive the sins of her past. The abuse. The violent household. The instability. The codependence. Through therapy, through semi-autobiographical novels (Gray Sexton has authored four) and through dealing with her mother's work as her executor, she has been able to move forward. These memoirs are the final leg in Gray Sexton's long emotional journey. Street is an indulgence she must allow herself. Anne Sexton had her poetry and her therapy...
This is not to say, however, that the author paints her mother as a victim of circumstance. Gray Sexton is careful to demonstrate the agency with which her mother seemed to bring things upon herself. Anne Sexton was every bit the performer as well as a writer. It is Mother who twirls her hair for hours putting herself in a trance. It is Mother who goads her ill-tempered husband into beating her screaming, "Kill me! Kill me!" It is Mother who goes ballistic at a dinner table thrusting herself head first into a plate of mashed potatoes...
This is not to say that Gray Sexton does not acknowledge the mental illness component (she even suggests that Anne was a misdiagnosed manic depressive), however she does insist on portraying her mother as active and not passive. Perhaps she does this in order to maintain her mother's artistic integrity. If Gray Sexton were to insist that her mother was a certifiable lunatic then what would she be saying about her poetry? Instead the author is quick to illustrate how gifted her mother was and how deliberate her work had become. The author tells the reader that ever since...
Whereas Gray Sexton admits to inheriting her mother's demons, she seems comfortable to state that she inherited her talent (to a certain extent) as well. She and her mother shared a love and understanding of "Language." Unfortunately, the discrepency between the two's works is large, and Gray Sexton's assertion is just plain embarassing. Apparently hell-bent on proving her talents, Gray Sexton weighs down her prose with forced and self-conscious metaphors. When discussing an episode concerning her mother's housemates, Gray Sexton writes, "As if they were bad meat, I wanted to be rid of them...
...addition to her lofty, sometimes ridiculous prose, Gray Sexton has a tendency to deflate a dramatic episode or telling moment with a trite or obvious tagline. Stressing the importance of holidays and the stability they bring, Gray Sexton writes, "...and still every year my [Halloween] candy lasts until Easter. I eat one piece a day. Who says you can't control your life?" Explaining how her mother sometimes liked to bake, Gray Sexton states, "If you can bake cookies, you can't be too crazy." The author frustrates her reader, interrupting the flow of emotion with these absurd statements which...