A Pillow Book

Author: Suzanne Buffam

Publisher: Canarium Books (2016)

Not a memoir. Not an epic. Not an essay. Not a spell. Not a shopping list. Not a nocturne. Not a dream book. Not a prayer. Not a novel. Not an apology. Not a dossier. Not a complaint. Not a manifest. Not a manifesto. Not a field report. Not a promissory note. Not a recipe. Not a résumé. Not a confession. Not a lullaby. Not a secret letter sent through the silent palace hallways before dawn.

"Buffam’s A Pillow Book is a smart, funny, provocative collection of lists, research into pillows and sleeplessness, and details about all kinds of people, including famous insomniacs (F. Scott Fitzgerald, Abraham Lincoln, Tallulah Bankhead, and, of course, Marcel Proust, make appearances). It is a book replete with interesting details, including Buffam’s commentary on The Pillow Book by Sei Shōnagon, whose writing is woven into this book in imaginative and fanciful ways."

–John Yau

"Insomniacs and the well-rested alike will feel a kinship as Buffam’s rambling nights coalesce into a beautifully contemplative, deeply personal work."

–Publisher's Weekly