I am Clarence : a novel / Elaine Kraf ; introduction by Sarah Manguso.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Kraf, Elaine, author.

Contributor:

Manguso, Sarah, 1974- writer of introduction.

Series:

Modern Library torch bearers

Modern Library torchbearers

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Mother and child--Fiction.

Mother and child.

Mothers--Mental health--Fiction.

Mothers.

Children with disabilities--Fiction.

Children with disabilities.

Genre:

Fiction.

Physical Description:

xii, 202 pages ; 21 cm.

Edition:

2025 Modern Library edition.

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : The Modern Library, 2025.

Summary:

"For Clarence's mother, life revolves around her young son; she takes him to see specialists to find the cause of his blindness and developmental delays, protects him form the cruelty of other children, and loves him tenderly. But she has her own struggles too. Her sanity is precarious and fractured, making caregiving increasingly difficult for her. When her mental health reaches a breaking point, she checks herself into an institution so that she can get better and, she tells herself, be a better mother to Clarence. As she is forced to decide between his well-being and her own, the reader is faced with these essential questions: Can a mother's love for her child surmount her own emotional upheaval? How can she sacrifice for her son and survive? Through this unforgettable journey into one woman's mind and relationships, Kraf paints a harrowing portrait of motherhood, which remains timely and inventive more than fifty years after its initial publication." -page [4] of cover

Notes:

"First published by Doubleday in 1969."

ISBN:

0593731859

9780593731857

OCLC:

1449672469