On the gray fedora parked in front of him, he was tapping a rhythm out of time with the tune coming from the jukebox, Glenn Miller's "At Your Beck and Call"--a song he had perhaps composed or was just composing and which only he could hear.

Monday, September 13, 2010

What Is Identity?

Is identity something we shape ourselves to be? Or is our identity the very instrument that shapes us? Theorists, such as Jacques Lacan and Louis Althusser, argue that we mistake (or, in Lacan's terminology: misrecognize) an external expectation (sometimes an image) for our own identity, setting up a lifelong battle to become --and maintain-- this "image." 

In the case of Toni Jo Henry, the fictionalized character of A Savage Wisdom based on the historical figure, Toni Jo encounters an alter-ego in the opportunities Harold Nevers presents to her, which threatens her former existence and changes her future. Find out what makes Toni Jo vulnerable and whether or not her identity shapes her or she shapes it.

Check out the Kindle version, available through Amazon.com.

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