Begin by Telling

InBegin by Telling, experimental pop sensation Meg Remy (U.S. Girls) spins a web out from her body to myriad corners of American hyper-culture. Through illustrated lyric essays depicting memories from early childhood to present day, Remy paints a stark portrait of a spectacle-driven country.

These memories are visceral. As though channel surfing, we catch glimpses of Desert Storm, the Oklahoma City Bombing, random street violence, the petrochemical industry, small town Deadheads, a toilet with uterus lining in it, the county STD clinic, and missionaries at the front door. Each is shared through language of the body; the sensation of experiencing many of the defining events and moments of a country.

These threads nimbly interweave with probing quotes and statistics, demonstrating the importance of personal storytelling, radical empathy, and the necessity of reflecting on society and one's self within that construct.

Immersive and utterly compelling,Begin by Tellingis an artifact of our time; a fascinating perspective on American culture. (From Book*Hug Press)

Meg Remy is avisual artist, performer, musician and writer, best known from the pop projectU.S. Girls. She is originally from Illinois, but now lives in Toronto.Begin by Tellingis her first book.

• If you liked It Never Ends by Tom Scharpling, you'll love Meg Remy's Begin by Telling
• The best Canadian nonfiction of 2021
• 53 works of Canadian nonfiction coming out in spring 2021

Interviews with Meg Remy

The Next Chapter2:15Meg Remy recommends Wave by Sonali Deraniyagala

Meg Remy from the band U.S. Girls shares what she's learned about grief from the memoir Wave by Sonali Deraniyagala.