“Donald Friedman brings his considerable literary gift to this memoir of despair, and with that gift fills the pages with the flickering light of the spirit.”
―William Kotzwinkle author of ET the Extraterrestrial and Felonious Monk
All royalties from sales of Still Phyllis have been assigned to the Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease Foundation
Derek Walcott discusses his painting and poetry.
Kurt Vonnegut shows and discusses his artwork.
About Donald
I’m Donald Friedman, author of novels, short stories, essays, and large and small books of non-fiction. Curious about everything (some might say pathologically so) my books and blogs cover an odd mix of topics—the lives and works of writer-artists, a fascination with language that resulted in a humorous book about dog terms, a blog about words derived from chemistry, and the mind-destroying disease, CJD, that took the life of my sister.
Since there’s only so much one guy can discover on his own, I hope you’ll send me an email with writer-artists or dog terms or chemistry words I’ve overlooked, or your own experience with dementing illness. Or anything else you care to share.
Praise
The Writer's Brush
“Sparkling audaciously on every page.”
—New York Times Book Review
The Writer’s Brush Exhibition Catalogue
—The New Yorker
Corrupted Humours
“A fever dream...an engaging, serpentine, and multilayered tale of death, passion, and people.”
—Kirkus Reviews
You’re My Dawg, Dog
“As funny and irresistible as dogs are.”
—John Berendt, bestselling author of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
The Hand Before the Eye
“You’ll be pleased to compare its farcical humor to Philip Roth.”
—The Jerusalem Report
The Writer's Brush
“A grand feat of research and interpretation”
—Booklist (American Libraries Assoc.)
Starred Review
Also by Donald Friedman
Latest Blog Post
In this July 2024 interview, the brilliant, popular originator of what Der Spiegel magazine dubbed “art-journalism,” Molly Crabapple explained that if she carried a chip on her shoulder it was not anger at some past injustice she suffered, but for other people. Seeking to give a voice to victimized, stigmatized,…
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