In Stray, the Sweetbitter author excavates her own traumas.
This version is true, but it’s merely one small portion of the whole truth.
“I’ve said it before, thatSweetbitterwas like winning the lottery,” says Danler.
Nick Vorderman
“But it did not change my life at a material level the way people probably assume it has.
“I feel that way about my parents, too….
I couldn’t think about their pain and suffering and continue to lead a productive life.
Once I wrote that piece I knew I could write a book about it.”
It took years to come to the concept, but once she arrived, Danler worked quickly.
And then there’s The Monster.
You were a monster.
And that’s when I knew.")
The first version ofStraydid not mention their affair.
“I really believe that children of alcoholics are the best secret-keepers in the world,” says Danler.
“That made me really good at keeping my own secrets.
“The point is the way he made me behave and the way that I behaved for him.”
Strayends with Danler’s decision to stop the affair.
Insofar as a timeline is concerned, the narrative ends right asSweetbitteris about to hit shelves.
There’s a moment in the book when she describes her engagement to her first husband.
“You’re talking about self-worth, right?”
she says when I ask about where she currently falls on the why-me to of-course-me spectrum.
“It feels like that struggle is a part of my physiology, a part of my birthright.
So I still have to give myself the same pep talk.
Why can’t there be another story for me one that doesn’t burn itself to the ground.”
