My Father in Water

Shearsman Books, October 2011

This interlinked collection of lyric essays documents Carol Guess's relationship to her father, a brilliant scientist whose intensity and eccentricity shaped family life in humorous and often lonely ways. In musical prose, writing as a poet, teacher, and queer activist, Guess describes a life lived in service to language.

At once accessible and enigmatic, funny and somber, MY FATHER IN WATER is a haunting examination of the impact of family history on one artist's journey.