Live Through This: On Creativity and Self-Destruction

Sabrina Chapadjiev, editor
Seven Stories Press

Much has been written about the connections between creativity and madness but editor Sabrina Chapadjeive postulates (citing Syliva Plath, Anne Sexton and Virginia Woolf for starters) that female artists are particularly prone to self-destruction. Having known so many brilliant women wrestling with darkness ("... it became logical: If a woman was fiercely intelligent, outspoken and passionate, I'd look towards arms for the scars.") Chapadjiev asked 20 writers and artists to talk about their own dances with creation and destruction. The results are never less than fascinating, even if some are so personal that they fall short of illuminating. Two main themes emerge, both summed up concisely in Nicole Blackman's essay, one of the book's highlights: "male anger often tended to focus outward while female anger often seemed to focus inward," and "self destruction ... is a bizarre displacement of power." In other words, many women feel the only way they can take control in their lives is by abusing themselves with drugs, eating disorders, or other self-destructive behavior. Each of the essays and cartoons in this book reflect struggles with control, from Diane DiMassa's need to find an outlet for her anger (achieved in her classic comic Hothead Paisan) to bell hooks's reflections on the enduring impact of childhood abuse. Many speak of making art as a way to inscribe their pain on something other than their bodies; art becomes solace, coping mechanism and path to redemption ("Art as prayer," says Kate Bornstein) particularly in Annie Sprinkle's inspiring story about making art around her breast cancer diagnosis. And inspiration, ultimately, is what this visceral book is about.