Grand Rapids, MI – Some moments barely register when they happen, a glance, a flavor, a whispered comment, yet they linger, quietly shaping us in ways we might not realize until years later. In her latest book, Selected Misdemeanors: Essays at the Mercy of the Reader, award-winning author Sue William Silverman gathers those moments, holds them up to the light, and shows how much meaning can be found in what first seemed small.
Silverman is no stranger to revealing the layers beneath everyday life. Known for her fearless memoirs (Love Sick and How to Survive Death and Other Inconveniences), she has built a literary career on exploring what it means to be vulnerable, contradictory, and deeply human. But in Selected Misdemeanors, she’s working in the jewel-like space of flash nonfiction, short, concentrated bursts of story where every word matters and each insight arrives like a spark.
“Flash isn’t just about length, it’s about the quick, shimmering truth of a moment,” Silverman says. That might mean revisiting a childhood fascination with crème de menthe, finding both humor and discomfort in a worm discovered at a dinner party, or remembering the complicated affection she felt for her “upside-down sister.” In each essay, the seemingly small becomes a lens for something universal: the search for safety, the longing for belonging, and the bittersweet knowledge that beauty never lasts forever.
Her “misdemeanors” aren’t the kind that land you in court, they’re the missteps, compromises, and misguided choices we all make in pursuit of love and home. “In many ways, these essays are about yearning for a sense of home, but also misjudging how to get there,” she explains. That might mean looking for affection in all the wrong places or holding tight to family myths that can’t deliver on their promises.
Longtime readers will recognize Silverman’s lyrical voice, her unflinching honesty, and her knack for weaving humor into even the most difficult truths. New readers will quickly discover an author unafraid to explore contradiction, someone who can make you laugh, then leave you quietly reflecting, all within the space of a page. Whether she’s recalling the glamour of Chippendales dancers, the neon blur of a Pac-Man-and-bourbon night, or the way melodramatic movies shaped her teenage ideas about romance, her voice is intimate, inviting, and unforgettable.
Selected Misdemeanors is as much about the art of noticing as it is about storytelling. These compact essays invite you to look again at your own “small” moments, the ones that passed almost without comment, and wonder what quiet truths might be hidden there.
Published by the University of Nebraska Press, Selected Misdemeanors: Essays at the Mercy of the Reader is available for pre-order from Amazon or your local independent bookstore. Reviewers and booksellers can request advanced copies on NetGalley. It is set to release on September 1, 2025.
