Sick History

Countless pandemic diaries have attempted to record these ambivalent stirrings, but few are as rich, or as far-reaching, as Kate Zambreno’s To Write as if Already Dead. Written at least in part during the early days of the COVID pandemic and published in 2021, the first half of the book, described as a novella, traces the growing intimacy and eventual dissolution of a friendship developed through literary blogs. The second half (presented by the publishers as straightforward non-fiction), is full of fragmentary vignettes that describe Zambreno’s attempts to navigate various illnesses, an unexpected pregnancy, the increasing ubiquity of COVID-19, and the crisis ordinary of contingent employment.