How to Write a Suicide Note examines the life of a Chinese/Black
woman who grew up passing for white, who grew up poor, who loves women
but has always married white men. Writing has saved her life. It has
allowed her to name the historical trauma--the racist, sexist, classist
experiences that have kept her from being fully alive, that have
screamed at her loudly and consistently that she was no good, and would
never be any good-and that no one could love her. Writing has given her
the creative power to name the experiences that dictated who she was,
even before she was born, and write notes to them, suicide notes.
Sherry Quan Lee believes writing saves lives; writing has saved her
life.
Acclaim for How to Write a Suicide Note
"How to Write a Suicide Note is a haunting portrait of the daughter of
an African mother and a Chinese father. Sherry dares to be who she isn't
supposed to be, feel what she isn't supposed to feel, and destroys
racial and gender myths as she integrates her bi-racial identity into
all that she is. Through her raw honesty and vulnerability, Sherry
captures a range of emotions most people are afraid to confront, or even
share. Her work is a gift to the mental health community."
--Beth Kyong Lo, M.A., Psychotherapist
"Sherry Quan Lee offers us, in How to Write a Suicide Note, a deep
breathing meditation on how love is under continuous revision. And like
all the best Blues singers, Quan Lee voices the lowdown, dirty paces
that living puts us through, but without regret or surrender."
Wesley Brown, author of Darktown Strutters and Tragic Magic
"I love the female aspects, the sex, and the strong voice Sherry Quan
Lee uses to share her private life in How To Write A Suicide Note. I
love the wit, the tongue-in-cheek, the trippiness of it all. I love the
metaphors, especially the lover and suicide ones. I love the
free-associations, the 'raving, ravenous, relentless' back and forth.
Quan Lee breaks the rules and finds her genius. How to Write a Suicide
Note is a passionate, risk-taking, outrageous, life-affirming book and
love letter."
Sharon Doubiago, author of Body and Soul, Hard Country; and other works
Learn more about the author at www.SherryQuanLee.com
Book #2 in the Reflections of History Series from Modern History Press
www.ModernHistoryPress.com
Modern History Press is an imprint of Loving Healing Press
