Afterglow

A Dog Memoir

By: Eileen Myles

Narrated by: Eileen Myles

Length: 5 hrs

Publisher's summary

Prolific and widely renowned, Eileen Myles is a trailblazer whose decades of literary and artistic work "set a bar for openness, frankness, and variability few lives could ever match" (New York Review of Books). This newest book paints a kaleidoscopic portrait of a beloved confidant: the pit bull called Rosie.

In 1990, Myles chose Rosie from a litter on the street, and their connection instantly became central to the writer's life and work. During the course of their 16 years together, Myles was madly devoted to the dog's well-being, especially in her final days. Starting from the emptiness following Rosie's death, Afterglow launches a heartfelt and fabulist investigation into the true nature of the bond between pet and pet owner. Through this lens, we witness Myles' experiences with intimacy and spirituality, celebrity and politics, alcoholism and recovery, fathers and family history, as well as the fantastical myths we spin to get to the heart of grief.

Moving from an imaginary talk show where Rosie is interviewed by Myles' childhood puppet to a critical reenactment of the night Rosie mated with another pit bull, from lyrical transcriptions of their walks to Rosie's enlightened narration from the afterlife, Afterglow illuminates all that it can mean when we dedicate our existence to a dog.

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©2017 Eileen Myles (P)2017 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

World According to Eileen

Wow! What an unexpected stunner! This book kept me enthralled, amused, inspired for many walks and drives- what a delight to be able to hear Eileen Myles telling me stories in my ear! Because they are such a gifted reader / speaker, this book has a whole other dimension and is a true gift of enlightened spicy snarky queer tenderness and comedy. A must for any EM fan. And it’s way more than a book about a dog. It’s all about love, life and the meaning of both and so much more.

Prose poems that had puppies

Hearing Myles perform the Rosie book is almost as enjoyable as seeing them give a reading. The intimacy of hearing Myles pronounce the words on the page brings me joy. This book was one I read with a queer book club at my university. It's a tapestry of foam, family, and memory. Reading it, listening to it, and talking about it with fellow travelers has been the highlight of my fall 2018 semester. #poet #memoir #pitbull #queer #tagsgiving #sweepstakes

Memorable and surreal memoir

Afterglow is a compelling and surrealistic memoir about a woman's life with her dog. I really enjoyed the addition of puppets and a dog interview at the beginning of the book, but it's only brought up once in the entire book, so I believe advertising it as having fake interviews with puppets is a little misleading, even if it's technically true. The book length is perfect and tells the narrative concisely while still giving out important details. I did take some issue with the narration, however. I acknowledge that it could be just me because I am not usually accustomed to listening to audiobooks, but I found that the speaker's narration of the story was sort of flat and monotonous.

Poetry yes but

at times the words went on and on in such a rambling manner, I had to just power through it. Listening was like hearing someone’s drunk stream of consciousness at times. I enjoyed their voice as narration, their accent lent a personal touch. However I found some pronunciations/ affectations grating, such as ‘pitcher’ for the word ‘picture’ (ie photograph). I do appreciate the effort and the perspective of Rosie, even though it was at times confusing as to who was talking. Worth the read as I’ve had both a drunk mailman and a beautiful pit bull as family at different times thankfully. Would recommend.

Poetry NOT Prose - Not my cup of tea :(

If you are looking for someone's tangible experience of losing a beloved dog, this book is probably not for you. I heard Eileen Myles interviewed a few years back shortly after she wrote Afterglow and her description inspired me to purchase it on Audible. While I enjoyed hearing Eileen's voice, the book is out there - I mean WAY out there. Rosie the dog becomes the narrator at times and shares philosophical perspectives from relationships to spirituality. I'm no dummy and enjoy poetry however I'd have much rather heard from Eileen about the things she learned from Rosie, her life and death, etc. versus about someone's perspective on astrophysics. I've still got Eileen's Chelsea Girls in my Wish List but am wondering if that book might reflect the same writing style. If so, it's book probably isn't for me either.