Two memoirs tell life-altering stories through illustrations

NPR's Book of the Day

NPR

Books, Arts

4.2 • 672 Ratings

🗓️ 10 March 2023

⏱️ 19 minutes

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Summary

Today's episode focuses on two pretty different graphic memoirs. First, artist Kendra Neely – who survived the 2015 shooting at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon – speaks to NPR's Juana Summers about processing the trauma and grief following that day's events in her new memoir, Numb to This. Through illustrations, Neely captures the oversaturation she still feels every time news of a shooting breaks. Then, NPR's Eyder Peralta asks Dan Santat about his memoir First Time for Everything, which recounts his coming-of-age trip across Europe with his eighth grade class.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, it's NPR's Book of the Day. I'm Timbidairmias. All week we've been bringing you NPR
0:08.4	interviews with memoir writers. And today, we've got a special pair. Their memoirs told in graphic
0:15.0	form. In a minute, you'll hear from the author of a new book for younger readers that's all about
0:20.4	the joys of discovery. But first, the author of a new book for younger readers that's all about the joys of
0:21.0	discovery. But first, the challenge of writing about your life after a traumatic event. In 2015,
0:28.1	Kendra Neely survived the Umpqua Community College shooting, which killed nine people and injured
0:33.4	others. The incident, and her path to heal from it, are the topic of her new book,
0:40.2	Numb to this, Memoir of a Mass Shooting. She discussed it with NPR's Juana Summers. It's a sobering
0:48.5	look at what it means to survive and the complex set of emotions that brings about. And I should mention that this interview includes a discussion about suicide.
0:57.9	In the U.S., national security news can feel far away from daily life.
1:02.7	Distant wars, murky conflicts, diplomacy behind closed doors.
1:07.2	On our new show, Sources and Methods.
1:09.3	NPR reporters on the ground bring you stories of real people
1:12.6	helping you understand why distant events matter here at home. Listen to sources and methods on the NPR app or
1:19.3	wherever you get your podcasts. For artist and author Kendra Neely, Serenity could be found in part of the Umpqua National Forest.
1:29.1	This is a little bit of a steep ravine, but then you're like right on the river.
1:33.5	There was this huge like rock cut out on the opposite side that when the sunlight hit it, it was so beautiful.
1:40.4	It just had this really beautiful shine about it.
1:44.1	And the water was always like crazy, crisp and fresh.
1:48.9	It's one of the places that she loved to draw to get inspiration for her work.
1:53.7	What I love about drawing is that it can do so many things for you mentally.
1:59.0	When I'm doing things like comics, especially in the early production
	...

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