My mother's novel
July 30, 2010 4:24 PM Subscribe
My mother's novel
In the late 1960's, my mom, young and naive, was arrested entering the US with a little bit of pot. She was thrown into a Texas jail, and threatened with years behind bars. This experience ended up being the basis of an experimental / poetic novel she wrote during the '70s, which was meant to be published in the '80s, but things fell apart and it never actually made it to press. Shortly after that, my parents divorced, and then a few years later, my mother was diagnosed with MS. The novel has been sitting on the back burner for a long time, but is finally available. (It's like time travel.)
I can't really explain the title - it's the name of the main character, but exactly why is a mystery. She has said the idea was it was sort of an amalgamation of Joyce Tuck, but changed just because she liked the sound better as Joy Stick.
In the late 1960's, my mom, young and naive, was arrested entering the US with a little bit of pot. She was thrown into a Texas jail, and threatened with years behind bars. This experience ended up being the basis of an experimental / poetic novel she wrote during the '70s, which was meant to be published in the '80s, but things fell apart and it never actually made it to press. Shortly after that, my parents divorced, and then a few years later, my mother was diagnosed with MS. The novel has been sitting on the back burner for a long time, but is finally available. (It's like time travel.)
I can't really explain the title - it's the name of the main character, but exactly why is a mystery. She has said the idea was it was sort of an amalgamation of Joyce Tuck, but changed just because she liked the sound better as Joy Stick.
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posted by mdn at 2:53 PM on December 14, 2010