In Praise of Inadequate Gifts

Winner of the Wandering Aengus Press Book Award, Tarn Wilson's memoir in essays In Praise of Inadequate Gifts explores the varied ways we process trauma and loss-and the miraculous, awkward, and imperfect process of renewal. 

Wilson touches on a wide range of topics: her obsession with teeth, why she doesn't have children, the summer she spent soldering keyboards for Chrysler Le Barons. She traces the after effects of her mother's rape, her confusion after her friend's mother is murdered, her own divorce and struggle with anxiety, and her complex grief after the death of her distant father and mentally ill mother.

The topics are difficult, but Wilson addresses them with curiosity and gentle humor. Her honesty, empathy, and lack of self-pity make us feel we are sitting down with a trusted friend, ready to confess our own hard journey. Ultimately, this collection is not just about suffering, but about the redemptive power of kindness and connection, that inadequate gift. "Love's gestures are so unassuming, so ordinary, so clumsy, so imperfect - yet, miraculously, they hold something larger than themselves, big enough to press back against the darkness." 

Her experimentation with form, with a segmented essay and two essays in lists, allow her to reflect in a multi-faceted way, not just on the events, but on how we tell our stories, the choices we make as we construct the narrative of our lives.  

Dinty W. Moore calls these essays, "honest, powerful, and necessary." 

Brenda Miller writes, "Wilson shows us how we can tell stories that matter, even when our hearts have broken." 

Scott Russell Sanders says "These essays will surely resonate with readers who have faced their own hard questions." 

Abigail Thomas, bestselling author of What Comes Next and How to Like It says, "I fell in love on the very first page. Tarn Wilson is an irresistible writer and her new book is a treasure. Buy it, read it, tell everyone you know."