Mellitus: Essays on Up/Rooting

"This beautiful collection hangs together like poetry, offering a condensed yet fully satisfying reflection on chronic illness and its impact on relationships and hope. Jussel's admirable lyricism and economy make this a collection to return to and savor." "Mellitus is a work of extraordinary unity—even as it acknowledges our ruptures, gaps, and failures. Jussel shows us both her body's destruction and its resilience. She makes us feel what we often take for granted: that the body is the site and source of our minds, our futures, and our connection to one another. In her hands, the syringe is not just a tool, but an experience to be shared." "In Mellitus, essayist Jenn Jussel beckons us into a thicket: a wilderness of illness, disability, and vulnerability that we all share, and through which she serves as expert guide. In language both lush and controlled, Jussel writes towards a new understanding of diabetes—a personally, intellectually, and emotionally rigorous one.