The Pharmacist's Mate and 8

By Amy Fusselman

Amy Fusselman's first two books, The Pharmacist's Mate and 8, weave surprising beauty out of diverse strands of personal reflection. Half memoir and half philosophical improvisation, each focuses loosely on a relationship with a man in the author's life: The Pharmacist's Mate with her recently deceased father, and 8 with "my pedophile" (as Fusselman painfully refers to her childhood assailant). Along the way, Fusselman covers sea shanties and artificial insemination, World War II and AC/DC, alternative healers and monster-truck videos. Fusselman's "wholly original epigrammatic style" (Vogue) "makes the world strange again, a place where dying and making life are equally mysterious and miraculous activities" (Time Out New York).

• Language: English
• Publisher: McSweeney's
• Release date: Mar 15, 2016
• ISBN: 9781944211134

Amy Fusselman

Amy Fusselman is the author of four nonfiction books: Idiophone; Savage Park: A Meditation on Play, Space, and Risk for Americans Who Are Nervous, Distracted, and Afraid to Die; 8; and The Pharmacist’s Mate. Her writing has appeared in the Washington Post, the New York Times, the Atlantic, McSweeney’s, and many other outlets. She lives with her family in New York City where she teaches creative writing at New York University. 

Reviews for The Pharmacist's Mate and 8

[eoin-311239 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

How this book manages to contain itself in Fusselman's open and engaging tone is a pleasant mystery. The writing is absolutely effortless, which is, of course, the hardest thing to do. Worth it for the restraint despite all appearance to the contrary.

[traciolsen · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a really beautiful, small book about a woman whose father is dying at the same time she is having a difficult time trying to conceive a child. The heartbreaking-ness is interspersed with excerpts from her father's WWII Navy diary. It is a really pretty and sweet book, from the usually pretty great McSweeney's.

[stouthearted_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A quick read, yet nevertheless manages to bring a development of heady themes such as birth and death. The author depicts a tumultuous time in her life, when she was trying to conceive a child while coping with the loss of her father. The author's story is interspersed with her father's diary entries aboard a Navy vessel during Word War II. These parts could have used more development, and required more of a connection to the present-day paragraphs. I felt the author conveyed a better sense of who the father was in her own words, rather than letting the diary entries speak for themselves.That aside, I enjoyed the structure of the novel, particularily why the author chose to number, then renumber, the paragraphs during an epiphany. Moments like that really connect author to reader, and for that reason, the afterword was a nice addition. The afterword depicted humerous moments during the author's book tour, including connections with her mother, a character previously kept to the background. The author comes off as relateable and humerous during the book, and despite the briefness of the work, becomes an enjoyable character.

[squeakychu · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The author’s dad had been a Purser-Pharmacist's Mate on a World War II ship. He is now dying of emphysema as the author attempts to become pregnant. Moving back and forth in time between her dad's war-time diary and her present situation, the author tells of her experiences in a sweet, dreamy fashion. Her musings seem to be her interpretation of the comings and goings of life. Even the chapter numbers reflect her thoughts. The story and ideas expressed within this small volume afternoon are perfect reading for one short and carefree afternoon.

[mrlibrary · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Her dad is dead, she is trying to get pregnant; after reading this book, I get the sense of how that might feel.