At forty, Sarah Einstein is forced to face her own shortcomings. In the wake of an attempted sexual assault, she must come to terms with the facts that she is not tough enough for her job managing a local drop-in center for adults with mental illness and that her new marriage is already faltering. Just as she reaches her breaking point, she meets Mot, a homeless veteran who lives a life dictated by frightening delusion. She is drawn to the brilliant ways he has found to lead his own difficult life; traveling to Romania to get his teeth fixed because the United States doesn't offer dental care to the indigent, teaching himself to use computers in public libraries, and even taking university classes while living out of doors.
Mot: A Memoir is the story of their unlikely friendship and explores what we can, and cannot, do for a person we love. In unsparing prose and with a sharp eye for detail, Einstein brings the reader into the world of Mot's delusions and illuminates a life that would otherwise be hidden from us.
"Sarah Einstein is a natural storyteller, and her careful portrait of her mentally ill, homeless friend Mot is unflinching. Mot, A Memoir is heartbreaking yet at times gently funny and always delivered with immense, startling compassion. An entirely captivating work of literary nonfiction."
Dinty W. Moore, author of Dear Mister Essay Writer Guy
"First-person narratives are sometimes dismissed as navel-gazing. Nothing could be further from the reality of Einstein's writing. In Mot, Einstein looks beyond herself and challenges us to do the same. From the opening scene to an epilogue providing concrete ways to improve conditions for marginalized individuals, Mot calls us to embrace humanity with the compassion Einstein herself extends."
