"It’s hard to overstate the importance of this gorgeous, harrowing, heartbreaking book, which tackles sexual violence and its aftermath while also articulating the singular pain of knowing — or loving, or caring for, or having a history with — one’s rapist. Vanasco is whip-smart and tender, open and ruthless; she is the perfect guide through the minefield of her trauma, and ours." —Carmen Maria Machado in Bustle
A Most Anticipated Book of Fall at Time, NYLON, Bustle, Pacific Standard, The Millions, Publishers Weekly, Chicago Tribune and more!
Jeannie Vanasco has had the same nightmare since she was a teenager. She startles awake, saying his name. It is always about him: one of her closest high school friends, a boy named Mark. A boy who raped her.
When her nightmares worsen, Jeannie decides—after fourteen years of silence—to reach out to Mark. He agrees to talk on the record and meet in person. "It's the least I can do," he says.
Jeannie details her friendship with Mark before and after the assault, asking the brave and urgent question: Is it possible for a good person to commit a terrible act? Jeannie interviews Mark, exploring how rape has impacted his life as well as her own. She examines the language surrounding sexual assault and pushes against its confines, contributing to and deepening the #MeToo discussion.
Exacting and courageous, Things We Didn't Talk About When I Was a Girl is part memoir, part true crime record, and part testament to the strength of female friendships—a recounting and reckoning that will inspire us to ask harder questions and interrogate our biases. Jeannie Vanasco examines and dismantles long-held myths of victimhood, discovering grace and power in this genre-bending investigation into the trauma of sexual violence.

Things We Didn't Talk About When I Was a Girl: A Memoir

Biographies & Memoirs

Vanasco, Jeannie

Memoirs

BRILLIANCE AUDIO ^

"Brilliant . . . As the pages fly by, we’re right by Vanasco, breathlessly experiencing her grief, mania, revelations, and―ultimately ― her relief." ―Entertainment Weekly 
A Poets &amp; Writers' Best Nonfiction Debut of 2017 A NYLON and Newsweek Editor's Choice A Barnes &amp; Noble Discover Great Writers Pick For fans of Maggie Nelson and Meghan O’Rourke, Jeannie Vanasco emerges as a definitive new voice in this stunning portrait of a daughter's love for her father and her near-unraveling after his death. The night before her father dies, eighteen-year-old Jeannie Vanasco promises she will write a book for him. But this isn't the book she imagined. The Glass Eye is Jeannie's struggle to honor her father, her larger-than-life hero but also the man who named her after his daughter from a previous marriage, a daughter who died. After his funeral, Jeannie spends the next decade in escalating mania, in and out of hospitals―increasingly obsessed with the other Jeanne. Obsession turns to investigation as Jeannie plumbs her childhood awareness of her dead half sibling and hunts for clues into the mysterious circumstances of her death. It becomes a puzzle Jeannie feels she must solve to better understand herself and her father. Jeannie Vanasco pulls us into her unraveling with such intimacy that her insanity becomes palpable, even logical. A brilliant exploration of the human psyche, The Glass Eye deepens our definitions of love, sanity, grief, and recovery.

The Glass Eye: A memoir

Arts & Literature

Tin House Books

"Such a confrontation is bold, unsettling and timely. (Vanasco) wanted to find out how a person who hurts others talks to himself about his actions. If we are ever going to reduce sexual violence, it’s a critically important question." ―Laurie Halse Anderson in TIME
"It’s hard to overstate the importance of this gorgeous, harrowing, heartbreaking book . . . Vanasco is whip-smart and tender, open and ruthless; she is the perfect guide through the minefield of her trauma, and ours." ―Carmen Maria Machado in Bustle
A Best Book of 2019 at Esquire, Amazon, Time, Kirkus, and Electric Literature
Jeannie Vanasco has had the same nightmare since she was a teenager. She startles awake, saying his name. It is always about him: one of her closest high school friends, a boy named Mark. A boy who raped her.
When her nightmares worsen, Jeannie decides―after fourteen years of silence―to reach out to Mark. He agrees to talk on the record and meet in person. "It's the least I can do," he says.
Jeannie details her friendship with Mark before and after the assault, asking the brave and urgent question: Is it possible for a good person to commit a terrible act? Jeannie interviews Mark, exploring how rape has impacted his life as well as her own. She examines the language surrounding sexual assault and pushes against its confines, contributing to and deepening the #MeToo discussion.
Exacting and courageous, Things We Didn't Talk About When I Was a Girl is part memoir, part true crime record, and part testament to the strength of female friendships―a recounting and reckoning that will inspire us to ask harder questions and interrogate our biases. Jeannie Vanasco examines and dismantles long-held myths of victimhood, discovering grace and power in this genre-bending investigation into the trauma of sexual violence.

Community & Culture

Product Description 
A New York Times Editors’ Choice and Best Book of the Year at TIME, Esquire, Amazon, Kirkus, and Electric Literature 
Jeannie Vanasco has had the same nightmare since she was a teenager. It is always about him: one of her closest high school friends, a boy named Mark. A boy who raped her. When her nightmares worsen, Jeannie decides―after fourteen years of silence―to reach out to Mark. He agrees to talk on the record and meet in person. 
Jeannie details her friendship with Mark before and after the assault, asking the brave and urgent question: Is it possible for a good person to commit a terrible act? Jeannie interviews Mark, exploring how rape has impacted his life as well as her own. 
Unflinching and courageous, Things We Didn’t Talk About When I Was a Girl is part memoir, part true crime record, and part testament to the strength of female friendships―a recounting and reckoning that will inspire us to ask harder questions, push towards deeper understanding, and continue a necessary and long overdue conversation. 
 Review 
"Bold, unsettling, and timely. . . . A reckoning with injustice." 
 ― 
Laurie Halse Anderson, TIME\n"Gorgeous, harrowing, heartbreaking." 
 ― 
Carmen Maria Machado, Bustle\n"About violence and forgiveness, about friendship and the unwanted title of victim, about digging deeper and deeper to seek answers." 
 ― 
The New York Times Book Review\n"A cuttingly funny meta-meditation on her own pain in the context of #MeToo." 
 ― 
O, The Oprah Magazine\n"A remarkably nuanced account of the complicated and confusing emotions that surface when your rapist is someone you knew and trusted." 
 ― 
The Cut\n"About how important it is to speak about these oft-silenced experiences that cause so many to feel ashamed, scared, and alone." 
 ― 
NPR\n"A stunning work of meta nonfiction. . . . Vanasco’s narrative pushes far past the flattened media narrative of Me Too and asks uncomfortable questions about how to talk about rape culture, toxic masculinity and gender, justice, and resilience." 
 ― 
Shondaland\n"Perhaps the most important book of the season." 
 ― 
Esquire\n"Utterly brilliant." 
 ― 
Book Riot\n"Thought-provoking, unmooring, and haunting." 
 ― 
NYLON 
 About the Author 
Jeannie Vanasco is the author of 
The Glass Eye: A Memoir (Tin House Books, 2017). Her work has appeared in 
The Believer, the 
New York Times Modern Love, 
Tin House, and elsewhere. She lives in Baltimore and is an assistant professor at Towson University. 
Things We Didn't Talk About When I Was a Girl is her second book.

Things We Didn't Talk About When I Was A Girl: A Memoir

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Books by Vanasco, Jeannie

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Vanasco, Jeannie. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Things We Didn't Talk About When I Was a Girl: A Memoir

The Glass Eye: A memoir

Things We Didn't Talk About When I Was a Girl: A Memoir

Things We Didn't Talk About When I Was A Girl: A Memoir