From the debris of her troubled early life, Lidia Yuknavitch weaves an astonishing tale of survival. A kind of memoir that is also a peon to the pursuit of beauty, self-expression, desire - for men and women - and the exhilaration of swimming, The Chronology of Water lays a life bare.

Happiness? Happiness makes crappy stories.
– Ken Kesey

A statement shared at the preface of Lidia Yuknavitch’s memoir ‘The Chronology of Water’ from Ken Kesey -a former teacher of hers during her college years – can not begin to prepare readers for the dark and raw descriptions of Lidia Yuknavitch’s life story that cascades from the pages.

Unequivocal human catastrophe – Lidia Yuknavitch’s life summed up is a harrowing series of adversities that little to none escape unscathed. Yuknavitch was raised in a home with her sister to a verbally, sexually, and psychically abusive father and an alcoholic mother who did not intervene. Yuknavitch delves deep into language in order to craft some of the most intriguing, raw, horrifying, and yet, beautifully written words that will ever happen to a reader. For some, it is easy to become disgusted or disbelieving – because abuse, addiction, and promiscuity are ugly facets of humanity, and many can’t handle reality. Her writing, and her story is relentless.

I often find myself the most intrigued with writing that touches upon abuse, alcoholism, drug addiction, depression, and more. I believe deeply that individuals that write about their experiences with these adversities have the most to say about life’s meaning, life’s purpose. Everybody deals with their own problems at some point- but those strong enough to endure given astronomically negative circumstances, and write about it, touch the lives of many without explicitly intending to. These authors have qualities about their writing that make it almost impossible to stop reading – because those who have not experiences what they have, are captivated, shocked and inspired by their stories of survival.

Lidia's writing is powerful, and full of love for those of us, as she says, who have been touched by the river of sadness. Recommended By Dano H., Powells.com Lidia Yuknavitch's memoir, The Chronology of Water, is fierce and voluptuous. The Chronology of Water. Introduction by Chelsea Cain. Nonfiction / memoir. ISBN 978-0-9790188-3-1. This is not your mother’s memoir. Lifelong swimmer and Olympic hopeful Lidia Yuknavitch accepts a college swimming scholarship in Texas in order to. INTRODUCTION BY CHELSEA CAIN:: This is not your mother’s memoir. In The Chronology of Water, Lidia Yuknavitch expertly moves the reader through issues of gender, sexuality, violence, and the family from the point of view of a lifelong swimmer turned artist. In writing that explores the nature of memoir itself, her story traces the effect of extreme grief on a young woman’s developing.

Lidia Yuknavitch The Chronology Of Water Pdf

The Chronology of Water is exactly that. It is impossible to put down. As I read, I only found myself speeding up in order to capture every word of what was happening as quickly as I could wrap my mind around it. And although her story was told in fragments, by the end, there’s a really visible and interesting structure that made her writing have the impact that it did.

“Ask me about my life as a sexualized, gendered body, and I can tell you tales. Endless stories of a woman who was me and is also all of us. Our bodies the flesh metaphor for all human experience. This. This happened to me. This is where I failed. Where I went blind. Where I opened my legs. Where I chewed off my hand. Where I tried to off myself, or offer myself up as useful, or deigned to ask for love, or ventured into pleasure or pain. Or just got drunk and fucked up. Again. Here are the scars. I am a swimmer. My shoulders are broad. My eyes, are blue.

Ask my about my writing, well, that’s a fierce private. Writing, she is the fire of me. Where stories get born from that place where life and death happened to me. She carries me and will be the death of me.”

Yuknavitch’s writing makes me forget to come up for air – if I was reading aloud, my mouth would not stop moving until I literally was out of breath. She is an inspiring woman. The abuse she survived and the personal internal conflicts she endured in order to transform herself into the the successful writer and mother she is today is undeniably outstanding.

Some argue that because of her promiscuity, rage, three previous husbands and a dependency on alcohol and drugs in the past – Yuknavitch’s piece is less of a inspiration and more or a rage-filled teenage diary – I say that she did an incredible job with the life that she was handed, and she is a true testament to what it means for a human to be resilient.

So, despite minimal flaws, The Chronology of Water is a great read and I recommend it to anyone who has the capacity to deal with adversity. Her language is strong, her message is inspiring, and her experiences are something to learn from.

Lidia Yuknavitch Bio

Jennifer Morasca

The Chronology Of Water By Lidia Yuknavitch

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