Grief, language, and the self are three of several major themes that Scanlon skillfully weaves through the text until their inextricability becomes unmissable ... Committed highlights the lack of language to properly describe our emotions and needs as a significant barrier to "going sane" as one of Scanlon’s doctors put it ... Though it appears to follow the author’s winding stream of consciousness, the catalog of her thoughts is not disorganized. Every return to a particular subject is purposeful and revelatory.
Committed leaps across time, mirroring how Scanlon comes to understand her own narrative, organizing an unconventional timeline from her fragmented memories. She also plays with form, occasionally breaking from running narrative with lists explaining her illness, or switching from first- to second-person to place the reader in a scene ... By lacing her story with literary analysis and cultural history, she creates a thoughtful reflection on how societal expectations can impact people, women in particular, and how writing and reading can provide a port in the storm.
