The Elephant We Don't See: A Diversity Dialogue

"In the Dream House" by Carmen Maria Machado

The Library and Prince George's County Office of Human Rights present "The Elephant We Don't See: A Diversity Dialogue" every last Tuesday of the month. Michelle Hamiel and Kyla Hanington discuss equity, diversity, inclusion, and anti-racism with books as a launch point. This month's selection commemorates Hispanic Heritage Month: "In the Dream House" by Carmen Maria Machado.

Carmen Maria Machado’s "In the Dream House" is a searing account of a harrowing relationship with a charismatic but volatile woman. Each chapter in this wildly inventive memoir is driven by its own narrative trope—the haunted house, erotica, the bildungsroman—through which Machado holds her story up to the light, examining it from different angles. She considers her religious adolescence, unpacks the stereotype of lesbian relationships as safe and utopian, and widens the view with essayistic explorations of the history and reality of abuse in queer relationships.

Machado’s dire narrative is leavened with her characteristic wit, playfulness, and openness to inquiry. She casts a critical eye over legal proceedings, fairy tales, Star Trek, and Disney villains, as well as iconic works of film and fiction. The result is a wrenching, riveting book that explodes our ideas about what a memoir can do and be.

Carmen Maria Machado is the author of "In the Dream House" and "Her Body and Other Parties," a finalist for the National Book Award. The recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, she is the writer in residence at the University of Pennsylvania and lives in Philadelphia with her wife.

Borrow the book from PGCMLS: Print | eAudiobook | eBook