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“Unstitched is riveting, compassionate, topical, and one of the best books I’ve read this year. Stanciu, in beautiful prose, takes on the impact of the opioid epidemic on a small Vermont town with the gusto and suspense of a fine mystery novel, and the empathy that only a truly fine observer of the human condition could muster. Highly recommended.”
— Thomas Christopher Greene, author of The Headmaster’s Wife and The Perfect Liar, Founding President of Vermont College of Fine Arts -
“Unstitched should be mandatory reading. It is a heartbreaking, raw, tender and revelatory look at addiction and its pervasive grip on ourselves, our families, our communities, and our rural towns. It is also a sublimely written narrative of transformation, vulnerability, discovery and love. This book undid me as I read—taking me into the heart of suffering, revealing my own habits, biases and fears—and then it gathered those pieces together and braided them into something new: a vision of hope, connection, possibility and healing for us all. Stanciu’s courage, generosity, curiosity and gorgeous words are the very best of guides.”
— Robin MacArthur, author of Heart Spring Mountain and Half Wild 
Tag Archives: #amreading
Reading Harry Potter
Like in-laws who have overstayed their welcome, winter lingers. While you might be wanting to mop mud from the in-laws’ boots off your kitchen floor, they keep coming and going, anticipating lunch and then dinner. So, too, winter. Sunday afternoon, … Continue reading
Snippet
For dinner last night, my daughter fried beef for enchiladas. From the garden, I brought in a basket and began washing vegetables. Here, throw in slender leeks, sweet red peppers, onions with their fat greens. I filled a salad bowl with … Continue reading
Weighty Reading
A 8-year-old boy appears in my library and asks for a copy of the wrinkle book. He’s looking for Madeline L’Engle. When I place the book in his hands, he holds it, staring at the cover. It’s an old hardback … Continue reading
The Value of One Word
My 11-year-old opened a box with a brand-new puzzle today and said happily, “This smells puzzle-y.” What a world this is, where a kid can make up a word that’s indicative of so much – winter evenings around a table, … Continue reading
The Barbed Past
Hefting rotted stumps in fall clean-up today, I tripped on a surprising strand of rusted barbed wire and tore my pants. What crude past is this, surfacing near my well-trod woodpile path? Whoever strung this barbed wire is no doubt … Continue reading
Construction Paper
This morning, colored paper leaves spruced up our kitchen windows. My teenager had spent some late hours busy with arts and crafts and Netflix. Our house is the better off for this. Which got me to thinking… what are the … Continue reading
Autumn Commences
I took an unusual route to work this morning, in an attempt to avoid construction, and was rewarded with fog so rich along the valleys my little car crept along, the headlights no doubt mere smears in the white layers. … Continue reading
David Budbill, Poet
A few years back, I packed up my manuscript and mailed it across the river to a poet I’d read for years but didn’t know. The poet read my manuscript, emailed me, drove up my icy back road, and had … Continue reading
Emerald Heart
Hard, cold rain woke us this morning. In her pajamas, my younger daughter knelt dreamily at the window and murmured, I love the sound of rain, while my teenager rolled over with news it was a bad idea to get … Continue reading
Revision, Again and Again – Or, Happiness
One of my first introductions to my daughter’s elementary school was the all-school hike, all 51 kids on an extended walk through the woods behind the 100-year-old schoolhouse. Of all the school activities, this is one of my very favorite, a … Continue reading
