PositiveZYZZYVA... something akin to a medical approach ... The book never loses focus of the oneness of word and body, or more accurately, word and object ... not without its weaknesses: rhetorical questions in place of assertions, descriptions of a successful pregnancy and two AIDS-related deaths, and a disregard for the special freedoms embedded in her complaints. Zambreno acknowledges these critiques point-blank. She cites and justifies her insecurities throughout ... That she characterizes writing as a deathly act is a convenient choice, one that subsumes the slipperiness of ethical reasoning. But even with these limitations, the distinct quality of the book remains its form. Zambreno enacts that which she describes ... Concluding the book, a whimsical Zambreno imaginarily travels to Elba—an island in Italy—to visit the gravesite of Guibert. She is without her husband, without pregnancy, without her daughter Leo, and without illness. Her sole possessions are time and space, thus, the freedom to write. The description is heavenly, because here, she is dead.
Jenny Diski
PositiveZYZZYVAHer work might be labelled criticism, memoir, and even bibliography-critique, but is better unified by subject than genre. She examines blankness and vacancy, celebrity and suffering, persons and their pasts ... Diski observes herself with the same objectivity as shown toward other characters. Her authorly narcissism is dissected with just the same precision as Howard Hughes’ indulgent madness ... Why Didn’t You Just Do What You Were Told? proves that Jenny Diski knew how to name things.
