Unapologetically Honest and Hauntingly Poetic, Sue William Silverman’s Selected Misdemeanors Delivers Flash Truths

Award-winning author of Love Sick returns with flash essays that uncover the emotional aftershocks hidden in life’s smallest moments.

GRAND RAPIDS, MI, UNITED STATES, July 29, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Acclaimed author and memoirist Sue William Silverman returns with Selected Misdemeanors: Essays at the Mercy of the Reader, a visceral and revelatory collection of flash nonfiction that examines the tiniest moments in life—and their ripple effects. Published by the University of Nebraska Press, this new collection from the award-winning voice behind Love Sick and How to Survive Death and Other Inconveniences reminds readers of the power and peril embedded in seemingly insignificant decisions.

Described as “unapologetic word grenades lobbed into an otherwise complacent forgetfulness,” Selected Misdemeanors explores moments both dark and delightful, from a fourth-grade fortune teller’s sweet lies to a worm in a dinner-party strawberry. With her signature blend of lyricism, emotional depth, and fearless honesty, Silverman reveals the emotional misdemeanors we commit—especially against ourselves—in pursuit of love, safety, and belonging.

“I think what makes me unique is that I’m not afraid to examine contradiction,” says Silverman. “In many ways, these essays are about yearning for a sense of home, but also misjudging how to get there. My so-called misdemeanors aren’t criminal—they’re emotional.” Whether writing about an obsession with crème de menthe, navigating an emotionally frozen family, or yearning for a sense of safety and belonging, Silverman’s revelations shimmer within the compact, poetic form of the flash essay.

Selected Misdemeanors continues Silverman’s legacy of crafting memoir with metaphor at its heart. A pioneer of the genre, she views flash nonfiction not just as a shorter form, but one that demands revelation. “Flash isn’t just about length—it’s about the quick, shimmering truth of a moment,” she explains. “The kind of insight you can only arrive at by really digging into the metaphor beneath the memory.”

Silverman is best known for Love Sick: One Woman’s Journey Through Sexual Addiction, which was adapted into a Lifetime movie, and Because I Remember Terror, Father, I Remember You, winner of the AWP Award for Creative Nonfiction. Her previous book, How to Survive Death and Other Inconveniences, won the gold Foreword INDIE Book of the Year Award and the Clara Johnson Award for Women’s Literature. She is also the author of the craft book Acetylene Torch Songs: Writing True Stories to Ignite the Soul, which won the IPPY Silver Award and was a finalist for two Foreword INDIE Awards.

Selected Misdemeanors: Essays at the Mercy of the Reader is published by University of Nebraska Press, the book is available on Paperback for pre-order on Amazon, Advanced review copies may be requested through NetGalley.   

ISBN Paperback: 978-1-4962-3607-2
Publisher: University of Nebraska Press
Release Date: September 1, 2025
Price: $19.95
Genre: Literary Nonfiction / Flash Essays / Memoir

About the Author

Sue William Silverman is an award-winning author known for her fearless explorations of trauma, identity, and personal transformation. Her latest book, Selected Misdemeanors: Essays at the Mercy of the Reader, showcases her signature blend of lyricism, insight, and unflinching honesty. She co-chairs the MFA in Writing Program at Vermont College of Fine Arts and has appeared on The View, Anderson Cooper 360, and PBS Books. Visit her website to learn more.

Desiree Duffy
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