Double Indemnities - by David Lazar (Paperback)

About the Book

David Lazar engages in epistolary conversation with three writers--Piper Daniels, Joanna Eleftheriou, and Heather Frise--in an effort to see how different kinds of dialogue can bring us closer to ourselves and our missions.

Book Synopsis

In Double Indemnities David Lazar engages in epistolary conversation with three writers--Piper Daniels, Joanna Eleftheriou, and Heather Frise--in an effort to see how different kinds of dialogue can bring us closer to ourselves and our missions. At times fiercely confessional, at other times poetic and suggestive, Lazar and his collaborators attempt to draw closer to the sore spots of self, the nature of expression in nonfiction forms, and the jolts, pains, and ecstasies that move us to express our fears, desires, and regrets. Ecstasy, yes, because to experience the self intensely demands that one also transcend the self, one way or another. Lazar and Daniels, Eleftheriou, and Frise fracture some forms and go deep inside the tradition of others: epistle, essay, prose poem. To get as close as they can to what haunts them, all four writers wander to the edges of form and look at their preoccupations and their pasts.

Review Quotes

"Ah, the joys of eavesdropping! I embraced this chance to put my ear to the wall: a book of letters exchanged between David Lazar--writer, editor, and all-around wit--and a wonderful trifecta of correspondents. There's deep, jazzy riffing between Lazar and writer Piper Daniels, followed by a cerebral and bracing 'inter-review, ' tracing the moves that happen between life and books, with writer Joanna Eleftheriou. Finally, we get David's rapid-fire, surreal jousting with writer and artist Heather Frise. Lazar writes in the introduction, 'I, and my correspondents, hope we come through, through to a place where the reader is able to participate in our process.' I found myself happily interjecting myself into these pages--talking back--again and again. A funny, profound look at the inner lives of the creative and the thoughtful, and a glimpse at the workings of some enviable artists and friendships."--Susanne Paola Antonetta, author of The Devil's Castle

"David Lazar--ever one of our most erudite and inventive essayists--here turns to the epistolary as if to a long-awaited instrument, composing a trio of intimate exchanges with Piper Daniels, Joanne Eleftheriou, and Heather Frise, each an artist in her own sphere. What moves through these pages are the currents of conversation itself: voices meeting, diverging, returning, surprising one another. All three revel in the unruly pleasures of the singular voice and the quiet astonishments that arise when attention is tender and respect is freely given. Here freedom feels palpable--the freedom to wander from the trivial to the luminous, from play to gravity, from the offhand remark to the unguarded revelation of self. What emerges is a generosity of spirit that I receive with real gratitude."--Marcia Aldrich, author of Studio of the Voice

"This book: No holds barred. That's how I describe Double Indemnities. These conversations thrum with white hot honesty, keen self-awareness, such lightness and levity--it's astounding to imagine one book can hold such brilliance. These writers speak from near-naked experience, rooted so vividly in place and time. It is pure delight to be privy to these conversations so effusive with love, admiration, and wide-ranging intelligence."--Nicole Walker, author of How to Plant a Billion Trees

About the Author

David Lazar is the author of numerous books, including Stories of the Street: Reimagining Found Texts (Nebraska, 2024). Piper Daniels is the founder of Epiphany Author Services and the author of the essay collection Ladies Lazarus. Joanna Eleftheriou is a contributing editor of Assay: A Journal of Nonfiction Studies and the author of This Way Back. Heather Frise is the author of the novel The Baddest Girl on the Planet. Her work has appeared in the Pushcart Prize Anthology and Best American Essays.