Gutted
Justin Chin
In a time when it’s difficult to grasp the passing of time, grief, and joy, I return to the legacy of a local queer poet, Justin Chin. In Gutted, his own loose variation of the Japanese zuihitsu, he assembles “diary entries, lists, quotations, observations, commentaries, fragments,” which chronicle the days after the death of his father, Chin’s own illness, and the absurdity, horror, and pleasure of everyday acts. How do we confront our past and view ourselves as raw, uncensored, honest?
KIYOKO SHIOSAKI
Undergraduate Research & Learning Librarian
UC Berkeley Library
This book is part of the 2021 Berkeley Summer Reading List. Stay tuned for more weekly posts!