Overview

A poetic new essay collection in which the symbols of Renaissance-era tarot brush up against life in a changing world. In 2018, author Jessica Friedmann bought her first deck of tarot cards, a facsimile copy of the Tarot de Marseille. This 15th-century deck, with its unfamiliar images, sparked a deep immersion in the art, symbols, myths, and misrepresentations of Renaissance-era tarot. Over the years that followed, and as tarot became a part of her daily rhythm, Friedmann's life in rural Australia was touched by floods and by drought, by bushfires and the pandemic, creating an environment in which the only constant was change. Twenty-Two Impressions: Notes from the Major Arcana uses the Tarot de Marseille as a touchstone for these years, blending historical research, art history, and critical insights with personal reflections. In these essays, Friedmann demonstrates how the cards of the Major Arcana can be used as a lens through which to examine the unexpectedness--and subtle beauty--of 21st-century life.

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9781957363127

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Reviews

Praise for Things That Helped: 'Things That Helped is a beautiful book--heartfelt, fiercely intelligent, and urgent. It is a powerful affirmation of friendship, family, art, and love, and how these things might shape a life, and give it strength, and it does not shy away from the complex, often painful, and sometimes bloody experiences of womanhood and motherhood. It is fascinating, luscious, and engrossing, and, despite its difficult subject matter, an absolute joy to read. --Fiona Wright, author of Small Acts of Disappearance Praise for Things That Helped: [Friedmann] never succumbs to sentimentality in these pages even when it's obvious how much she loves (or has learned to love) her son and how fortunate she feels for all that she has. Well-rendered essays that make readers think and feel deeply' --Kirkus Reviews Praise for Things That Helped: By carefully and deliberately describing the pain, dissociation, discomfort, alienation, and other forms of havoc she experienced after birthing her son, Friedmann legitimates and recognizes the physical, psychological, and political features of postpartum depression --Booklist

"Praise for Things That Helped: ""'Things That Helped is a beautiful book--heartfelt, fiercely intelligent, and urgent. It is a powerful affirmation of friendship, family, art, and love, and how these things might shape a life, and give it strength, and it does not shy away from the complex, often painful, and sometimes bloody experiences of womanhood and motherhood. It is fascinating, luscious, and engrossing, and, despite its difficult subject matter, an absolute joy to read."" --Fiona Wright, author of Small Acts of Disappearance Praise for Things That Helped: ""[Jessica Friedmann has left safety behind and walked into something vast--a self, a world, on the verge of unravelling yet exhilarating and full of love. This book runs deep and wide. It's alive with arresting images, with thoughts too big, sometimes too dangerous, to pin down."" --Maria Tumarkin, author of Axiomatic Praise for Things That Helped: ""Her transportive writing will break you open and fill you anew."" --Anna Spargo-Ryan, author of The Paper House"

"Praise for Things That Helped: ""'Things That Helped is a beautiful book--heartfelt, fiercely intelligent, and urgent. It is a powerful affirmation of friendship, family, art, and love, and how these things might shape a life, and give it strength, and it does not shy away from the complex, often painful, and sometimes bloody experiences of womanhood and motherhood. It is fascinating, luscious, and engrossing, and, despite its difficult subject matter, an absolute joy to read."" --Fiona Wright, author of Small Acts of Disappearance Praise for Things That Helped: ""[Friedmann] never succumbs to sentimentality in these pages even when it's obvious how much she loves (or has learned to love) her son and how fortunate she feels for all that she has. Well-rendered essays that make readers think and feel deeply'"" --Kirkus Reviews Praise for Things That Helped: ""By carefully and deliberately describing the pain, dissociation, discomfort, alienation, and other forms of havoc she experienced after birthing her son, Friedmann legitimates and recognizes the physical, psychological, and political features of postpartum depression"" --Booklist"

Author Information

Jessica Friedmann is a writer, editor, and independent scholar. Her first essay collection, Things That Helped, was published by Scribe (2017) and FSG (2018).

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