VHS and Why it's Hard to Live

4.5/5 ( ratings)

VHS and Why it's Hard to Live is a chapbook of flash nonfiction. These mini essays touch on the childhood experiences that make an adult and the many moments of disillusionment along the way.

Praise for VHS and Why it's Hard to Live:

“Get ready, reader, for a lightning-fast ride through the omnivorous observations of a true literary artist. VHS and Why It’s Hard to Live’s brief flashes of insight are real essays, testing the implications of experiences both intimate and public, the kinds of things we know and yet never give ourselves time to think about. Tatiana Ryckman masterfully utilizes the detritus of her experience and memory; it’s a joy to accompany her in her peculiar, humorous, and sometimes devastating speculations.”

— Patrick Madden, author of Sublime Physick: Essays

“VHS And Why It’s Hard To Live is like mourning the thing you’re happy is over. Sadly, there’s little confetti to that feeling, which is what these stories are. Go outside for like four minutes and you’ll see all this shit in the world. This chapbook is better than that, or at least occupies a space in the world that could’ve been occupied by something shitty/ier if she hadn’t made it. There’s a lot I don’t understand about why life is hard to live, but Tatiana makes that okay. Or at worst sufficient.”

— Jon-Michael Frank, Author of How's Everything Going? Not Good