Manuscript Architecture
The Braid
49 excerpts · 52,595 words · Two arcs · One architecture
Two threads run through this memoir. The first is the body — addiction, recovery, the physical choreography of dependence. The second is the mind — diagnosis, mania, the architecture of a brain that can't stop building. They weave, cross, and converge. The shape is the story.
Hover over any node in the braid
or any title in the index to reveal
the excerpt beneath.
The Black Hole
427 words. The shortest excerpt. The darkest moment. Maximum gravity, minimum language.
Our People
2,132 words. The longest excerpt. The wedding. Maximum emotional investment.
Loose Ends
Matt’s death. At the structural center. The one crisis Dave didn’t cause.
“Sometimes love is certified mail.”
Little to Know Experience · Dave Kitchens
The gap between living it and knowing it.