The Advocate listed Gabrielle Glancy's book, I'm Already Disturbed Please Come In, as one of the top thirty books you may have missed in 2015.
Ever hear of Morgellons syndrome? (If not, Wikipedia it and you’ll be fascinated.) I’m critical of the American health care system as much as the next gay, but partway through poet Gabrielle Glancy’s fascinating hybrid medical memoir I’m Already Disturbed Please Come In (Oneiric Press), I was convinced she had some sort of similar parasitic delusion, which is why no doctor could find it. In the book, the author battles an undiagnosed illness and baffling collection of symptoms while obsessively dissecting social media, interspersing short but thoughtful essays with ER visit accounts and Twitter reactions. The partial sound bites work, though, and I read the book cover to cover twice in one day — something I’ve never done. Glancy’s take on the intersections between climate change, dwindling natural resources, autoimmune diseases, viruses, and microbial imbalance in our own bodies is assured, fascinating, and terrifying. And all too real.
Gabrielle Glancy's extraordinary powers of observation make this tale of debilitating illness sparkle and dance -- whether she's describing her puzzling symptoms, the parade of kooky specialists who cannot diagnose her or, (when she's too exhausted to move more than her computer mouse) the world as seen through Facebook. Funny and harrowing, bold and confiding . . . Clifford Chase, Author of Winkie and The Tooth Fairy
Praise for The Art of the College Essay
This book should be in the hands of every college counselor in every high school across the country. Harry Kisker, Former Dean of Studies, Washington University, St. Louis, Former Director of College Counseling, The Branson School
Finally, some insight into writing the college essay that offers no pretense. A wonderful read – alive, funny and refreshingly real – The Art of the College Essay shows writers what it means to illuminate through text, to find wisdom in experience and anecdote, and to persuade real readers by being utterly humane. Glancy gets into and under the art of writing the college essay like no one I’ve ever seen. Erick P. Gordon, PhD, Former Director of the New York City Writing Project, Founder of Student Press Initiative, Teachers College, Columbia University
Why didn’t someone tell me what Gabrielle Glancy seems to know by instinct when I was writing my college essay? Not only does she give practical advice, but in the lightest, most playful way possible, Glancy has an almost spiritual take on the process. It’s a real twenty-first century guide to the whole college essay phenomenon. Melissa Feuerstein Research Associate, Davis Center, Harvard University
The Art of the College Essay had me at the first sentence. Glancy’s writing is powerfully direct, a hand reaching out to grab you by the collar. You can do this, she tells us. I’ll show you how. She knows her stuff backwards and forwards: how to do battle with the blank page, how to overcome our own worst impulses, and most of all, how to write an essay “so gripping, so authentic, and so real, that the admissions director cannot, much as she may want to, turn away. Erin Van Rheenen, Senior Writer and Editor at the San Francisco Exploratorium, Author of Living Abroad in Costa Rica, Former High School English Teacher, University High School, San Francisco
I learned the art of teaching writing from Gabrielle Glancy. Her insights into the creative process — and how to tap into the deep reserves in all of us — are remarkable. The Art of the College Essay will serve as an indispensable guide not only for students writing their college essays, but for anyone who wants to learn to write. Clifford Chase, Author of Winkie and The Tooth Fairy, Visiting Writer Wesleyan University
Gabrielle Glancy has written an innovative, entertaining, utterly brilliant how-to guide on writing college essays that will revolutionize what is often seen as an arduous task. I read the book in one night and laughed all the way through. She’s funny. And super insightful! For students, counselors, parents, writers of all kinds and just plain everyday people who want to know how to write from the inside out, this book is the light at the end of the tunnel. Yael Kropsky, Former Development Coordinator at Scholastic Books Entertainment, Digital Content Expert
The Art of the College Essay is a groundbreaking work. No one has even come close to what Gabrielle Glancy articulates in this book — that you must get lost in order to get found. Glancy teaches students how to get it all out in the worry-free zone of the Free Write, and then she advises them to go back and read what they've written to see what they're trying to say. Most guides advise doing it the other way around. That’s a recipe, as Glancy puts it, for that which shall not be named. The Art of the College Essay will change the landscape of college essay writing — and the teaching of writing in general. This book is a gift to the world. Illana Berger, PhD, Living the Sacred
Gabrielle Glancy’s students will never, never forget her. Her gift is not simply the dedication of the inspired teacher; it is the uncompromising truth of genius, the laser-like insight of honesty and the courage of the divine. Stanley Bosworth (1927-2011), Visionary, Founder & Former Head of The Saint Ann’s School for Gifted and Talented, New York City