I Live Here by Mia Kirshner

I Live Here Reviews

• 
  Paul Bryant

  Four 80-page ultra-glossy booklets in a cardboard foldout absolutely reeking of well-intentionedness and boundless compassion detail fragments from the lives of
  - refugees from Chechnya now living in squalor in Ingushetia
  - boy soldiers and sex workers in Burma
  - murdered women in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico
  - Aids sufferers in Malawi
  Yes, happy days are here again. Or not. This is a whole world of sorrow refracccccccted through journals, poems, short stories, graphic novelettes, scrapbooks, grafitttti, collage, embroidery, by a whole list of artists, and all based on the real lives of the poor souls encountered in these hell-holes by the wandering Mia Kirschner whose giant ten-year project this is and who edited it all together. It's a feast for your eyes, a delightful smorgasbord of style, but the screeching dissonance between the lovely lyrical jewelled art object that is I Live Here and the howling misery it is actually about was too much for me. And after book two, all the woe glommed together into one hideous female wail, endlessly raped and endlessly not knowing how to feed her five children, there always seemed to be five children. I can't recommend this, but it is unique.
  
  (note - the Ciudad Juarez booklet was timely as I just gave up Bolano's 2666 - couldn't finish it, couldn't review it, didn't have the heart. But that section will be of great interest to the many fans of 2666 .)
  
  
• 
  Rick

  Celebrity philanthropic efforts often center around a few photo opportunities showcased to further a career. These usually well-meaning events generally turn a fleeting spotlight on the truly needy, such as the numerous Africa plights, conquered Tibet, or the disaster relief du jour. With I Live Here, Mia Kirshner (The L Word) shines an unwavering, informative light on important and troubling non-U.S.-centric issues in a truthful and often disturbing manner. She elevates celebrity philanthropic efforts to an extraordinary new level of sophistication in content and style.
  
  Kirshner visited four ravaged areas, conducting interviews with the women and children most affected. I Live Here compiles her encounters in Ingushetia, Burma, Ciudad Juárez, and Malawi in a graphically intense series of four oversized, thin paperbacks wrapped inside a hardcover case. Each book also contains a graphic novella, and two of the volumes offer related short stories.
  
  The Russian republic of Ingushetia lies on the border of Chechnya. Not 50 miles from the embattled country’s capital, Grozny, more than 15,000 Chechen refugees currently live in Nazran, Ingushetia, primarily in tents and abandoned buildings. Kirshner first encounters the orphaned 12-year-old boy Ruslan at the edge of a dirt lot. Through an interpreter, Ruslan relates stories about his father’s missile-ravaged body and the killing of his mother by a drunk driver. Kirshner then meets Ruslan’s foster mother, Yakha, who fled her home for a different reason:
  
  “Yakha remembers the day. It was February 26, 2001, and her husband was drunk, as always. Eighty thousand Russian troops were in Chechnya, and they had been in control of Grozny for a year. Over the weekend, news spread that a mass grave containing fifty-one Chechens had been found in an abandoned village less than a mile from the main Russian military base. It was on the Monday, though, that her husband beat her with weights in his hands, and she fled. She had to leave her kids behind and go. Can you imagine? She had to leave her children behind. When last she saw her husband, he said this business wasn’t finished. He had threatened to take her body into the forest and cut it into pieces.”
  
  Yakha eventually returned to Grozny and brought her children to Nazran. The set’s best graphic novella,
  Joe Sacco’s excellent graphic story “Chechen War, Chechen Women,” perfectly supports the rest of the book’s text by skillfully recounting the tragedy’s history through the life of an old Chechen women.
  
  In perhaps the most disturbing volume, Kirshner meets with several Thai sex workers and young Burmese soldiers, ages 13 and under. Graphic stories of rape, abortion, and hunger emerge from the desperate women that work in Mae Sot along the Thai-Burma border. The prostitutes, often conscripted in their pre-teens, powerfully relate the inherent cruelty and desperation of their situation. As in all of the volumes, photographs and pictures by and of the oppressed appear with the words — none as effective as the intense images of the barbaric abortion methods. No pro-life fetuses here, just the starkness of a gloved hand entering an anonymous vagina and a drawing of a “homemade abortion stick.”
  
  This book also contains
  Karen Connelly’s “The Princess of the Sagawa Tea Shop.” The best fiction in I Live Here, it emotionally shares the trials of an experienced Thai prostitute who wants to retire and raise a family.
  
  The impoverished, international drug-trafficking center Ciudad Juárez, across the Rio Grande from El Paso, attracts thousands of Latin-American migrants to work in the city’s 300-plus factories. Since 1993, some 400 women, many of them factory workers, have been killed, usually raped and tortured, and dozens more have gone missing. Kirshner traveled to this troubled city and met the parents of Ericka, one of the victims.
  
  While complete with images from Ericka’s life, the interview pales next to
  Margaret Atwood protegé (and Mia sibling)
  Lauren Kirshner’s “Twenty Poems for Claudia,” a creative non-fiction essay recounting the life of another victim. The story begins with a FedEx box:
  
  “In the box there are photos of gray highways and underpasses. Pictures of you wearing white powder and blue contact lenses, with your mouth closed like you you’ve got a secret you want to tell. There’s an interview with your mother, who says God will take care of everything. There is a photo of the Lear factory where you worked making electrical harnesses for American cars. There’s a photo of a pariah street dog with an empty potato-chip bag on its mouth, one yellow eye visible and disappointed. There are pages from your high-school notebook: a few notes about John Locke, the Enlightenment, knowledge for all. The notes stop halfway down the page, where fat graffiti takes over.”
  
  Lauren Kirshner accomplishes far more than rehashing Claudia’s short life — she experiences it, complete with confusion and disgust over this unsolved murder and the countless others.
  
  The massive weight of the AIDS crisis crushes Malawi, where one in five residents is HIV-positive, and the humanitarian needs far outstrip the available aide. Mia Kirshner talks with AIDS victim Miriam, who like many in this poor African nation cannot afford the treatments. Kirshner relates the sad moment when Miriam learns that her daughter, too, has the plague: “She doesn’t normally cry, she says, and asks me if I know why tears are hot.”
  
  In the same volume, Kirshner visits the Kacher Prison for boys. The inmates, all between 11-19, are are often locked up for petty offenses for years at a time. No one claims them, not because of harsh penalties but rather the epidemic. Kirshner intertwines the story with the young men’s own words.
  
  The magnificent design by Michael Simons and Adbusters alumnus Paul Shoebridge weaves the disparate elements into one of the finest looking publications ever produced. In toto, the package forms an amazing work of art. An exceptional book of rare quality, I Live Here exceeds all expectations.
  
  
  This originally appeared in The San Antonio Current 11/5/08
• 
  Craig Shreve

  I won't give much here in the way of summary because Rick's review is pretty comprehensive, but I want to add my voice to his in expressing my appreciation for this collection. I think of myself as someone who keeps up to date on current events, but too often international tragedies are reduced to statistics - how much damage, how many missing, how many infected, how many dead. The concept behind Kirshner's project is that a person's story is worth more than a volume of statistics in expressing the reality of life in some of the world's most neglected regions. This is not a traditional book - there's no consistent story, or string of continuity - it is a series of first-hand and fragmented experiences that left me with an undeniable impression of the appalling living conditions that too many people have had to accept as the norm. There are more volumes planned, and I cannot wait to see further work of this quality.
  
  The tag line for this project is "There are too many untold stories", and towards that end there is also an I Live Here foundation that is funding arts and writing programs in developing areas, so that people will have an outlet for expression. The I Live Here website is similarly well done.
• 
  Grace

  This is really beautifully written & designed and incredibly moving, but I'm really unsure how I feel about it. The manufacturing of emotion with no clear outlet beyond a book bothers me--just reading this book and becoming more aware doesn't actually change anything, it just makes the intended audience sit around thinking that the third world is just so terrible but somehow our awareness will magically make it better, while it also doesn't really make us feel at all implicated in the condition of these other parts of the world. Also, it really upsets me when texts are based on interviews but don't make it very clear when there are actual quotations from the interviewees and when their stories are being filtered by others, or are just loosely inspiring fiction (I'm looking at you, Eve Ensler, as well). Even just moving/reprinting the info from the inside of the box describing each piece/its author would have made this much more clear (or adding page #s to the volumes and then the descriptions of their contents), and who cares if that would have made it a bit less pretty.
• 
  Danielle

  Moving, a look inside the lives of individuals who truly know what it means to suffer. It was hard to give it back to the library because I never felt truly "finished" with it. The stories are raw, a gut punch that makes one feel more compassionate and more capable of extending a warm hand of support and caring.
• 
  Sarah

  I admit, I was prejudiced, as Mia Kirshner plays who is possibly the single most annoying character in television history on the L Word. So I was pleasantly surprised and moved by this intense collection of stories, photographs, and artwork. Set up as 4 separate short books, reading more like a journal, she collected the words and stories of absolute devastation - war torn areas, genocide, AIDS, poverty, rape, and murder. It's very creatively done, very moving, extremely depressing interpretation of the lives of 4 areas around the world. Be forewarned: it's very heavy and has some disturbing photographs and artwork depicting extreme violence.
• 
  Richard

  There are lots of interesting and heartbreaking stories in this four book collection. Each book focuses on a different part of the world where terrible things happen. The books feature short fiction, comics (including a great one by Joe Sacco), artwork and Mia Kirshner's journals. The problem is that Kirshner is a terrible writer. She strives desperately for her work to be Important Writing, but it comes off really cliche and self-centered. I felt bad to be rolling my eyes given the serious subject matter, but she's really pretty annoying. Also I am a bad person.
• 
  Michael

  Pretty ambitious and amazing project. So Kirshner, an actress I've never heard of on a show, The L-Word, which I have but have never seen, spent seven years travelling to areas of massive poverty and injustice to chronicle the stories of women and children in these areas. I Live Here has a strong website presence and probably more multimedia aspects that I haven't discovered yet, but even the book is much more than a book. It comes in a binder, which when unfolded, has four notebook-style books inside. Each book spotlights a different region: refugees of the Russian/Chechen conflict in Ingushetia; political refugees and sex workers on the Thai/Burma border; the unsolved murder of young women in Ciudad Juárez, Mexica; and the problem of AIDS/HIV in Malawi in Africa.
  
  Reproducing Kirshner's journal entries as well as short fiction and artwork by her collaborators (including a comic book journalism section in Ingushetia by Joe Sacco, and a comic collage in Cuidad Juárez by Gloekner), the creators present a very moving and emotional portrait of life in these impoverished parts of the world. It's not light or fun reading. But it's extremely well put together. Personally, I'd quibble with the use of fiction, which is sometimes too neat and undermines the reality of the journal segments. But it's certainly a well-put-together package done by people who really want to make a difference.
• 
  Hannah Hillman

  A breathtaking look at the lives and experiences of the overlooked, the underserved, and the forgotten.
  As a beautiful mixed media collection, this isn't a book I would usually gravitate towards, and I must admit I picked this up mostly due to my obsession with The L Word. Nevertheless, these are stories that everyone should hear. Kirshner and her collaborators give these voices the attention and humanity they deserve and do so in such an eloquent manner. These people won't soon leave my mind.
  
  Unfortunately, my copy from the library was missing the Burma book, so I have ordered another copy since it seemed like that was a particularly memorable piece among commenters here.
• 
  Anne

  This book is an actual treasure. It will shatter you, but it will educate you, and it’s just chock full of beautiful art and stories from disenfranchised people. From refugees in Chechnya, to sex workers in Burma, to the missing girls in Ciudad Juarez, to child prisoners and people with HIV/AIDS in Malawi, the book highlights stories we don’t often get to hear. It’s humanizing, ambitious in its scope, and beautiful, despite all the horrors it’s documenting. There’s also a section by Joe Sacco, which was a wonderful surprise. I really hope more people get this book and read it.
• 
  Andrew Roberson

  I pass death with the dying
  and birth with the new-wash'd babe,
  and am not contain'd between my hat and boots,
  And peruse manifold objects,
  no two alike and every one good,
  The earth good and the stars good,
  and their adjuncts all good.
  
  I am not an earth nor an adjunct of an earth,
  
  I am the mate and companion of people,
  all just as immortal and fathomless as myself,
  
  (They do not know how immortal, but I know.)
  
  - Whitman "song of myself"
• 
  Jason

  Visually stunning, but a tough, tough read. Likely triggering for many people. Still, if you can handle it, well worth a read. I was lured in by the Sacco component, but the whole is mighty impressive.
• 
  Alex

  Man this was a really brutal book to read but I appreciated the medium it was told in. Super creative. Hard read.
• 
  Katie

  I have to admit, it took me quite some time to finish this book. However, I am glad that I picked it back up again. I had a hard time making it through the first mini book, as it was mostly a graphic novel (which just isn't typically something I read). When I got to the second mini book though, I loved it! The third was also great. The fourth was more enjoyable than the first, but not as good as the middle two.
  
  I admire Mia for her efforts in traveling the world and putting this publication together. She really shines a light on many cultures and aspects of living that we may not consider. While she ties a bit of her own life into her concerns about poverty, AIDS, war, murder, and the like, she does it tactfully and appropriately. It's easy to see why these issues struck a cord with her and why she's determined to educate society.
  
  The format of this book is stunning. I love the 4-book installments, and the outer packaging is really unique. In the beginning, I did find the change in tone and fonts to be a bit confusing (until I realized the parts were written by different authors within the books). Once I got used to the back and forth of that, I really enjoyed it. I would advise keeping the outer cover close by when reading, so you can refer to the notes about the contributors in each part.
• 
  Turnipseeds (Vanessa)

  You may already recognize the authors’ names: Kirshner is an actress, appearing in The L Word and Black Dahlia. MacKinnon is an award winning author. Shoebridge and Simons are creative directors who worked with Adbusters Magazine. Together, their world experiences and creative talents merge together in I Live Here, a funky collection of journals that explore the life of refugees. Travelling to Ingushetia, Burma, Ciudad Juarez, and Malawi, they capture the life of those displaced by war, famine, politics, and violence. Using a combination of scrapbook, mixed media, and graphic novel designs, they capture the heart and the stories of forgotten, homeless, landless people. A poignant look at the lives and stories behind headlines.
• 
  Rai

  This doesn't seem like the kind of piece that should be rated, so I'll refrain from that.
  I think this is an important look at refugees in different areas, the problems they are facing and how they ended up there. It gives a look at some of the reasons why people are displaced and how these things effect their lives. The use of multimedia and art really adds to the overall impact of the pieces. This is a mixture of fiction and truth that nonetheless feels very real.
• 
  Elie

  This was both a good read and a hard one.
  Human nature is a terrible, horrifying thing, and these stories were raw and not held back one bit. I struggled with the second one so much that i almost didn't finish it. But i did. And i'm glad.
  
  This left me sad, and enraged, and helpless. I want to erase it, but at the same time feel guilty about it because i know i shouldn't.
  
  Mostly this left me with the odd, powerful desire to just hug Mia.
• 
  Suzanne Shumaker

  I really enjoyed this "presentation," I guess it could be called. Having pictures drew me and also made the situations feel all the more real. I really liked the more personal accounts that were given. I agree with the author that this helps the reader feel more part of the problem or easier to imagine being in the person's shoes.
• 
  J.S. McLean

  This book is an interactive art piece masquerading as digestible non-fiction. I loved it. I loved the idea, the presentation, and the collaborative nature of the work involved in collecting the stories and making them available. Mia Kirshner clearly devoted untold amounts of energy to this project and it shows on every page of the four individual pieces.
• 
  John

  An amazing introduction to four different cultures. Written from an almost scrapbook perspective, it tells tales from those people in those areas. Please read this book. I was given it by my professors for her class since it was one of our texts for the class. You can get it almost anywhere for pretty cheap ($20).
• 
  Bobby

  Not something to pick up to understand these conflicts and regions in detail, but excellent for a glimpse into the affected lives. The majority of the illustrations and artwork were beautiful, yet haunting. A unique and well-crafter collection.
• 
  Anthony

  
  A beautifully constructed graphic journal. It was extremely well-done. Kudos to Kirshner. It was also very sad and almost horrifying in some places. I guess that should be expected from four travelogues to war-torn/poverty-stricken countries.
• 
  Linh

  very original. it touches your heart without you even realizing it. it brings to light the horrid conditions that some people in this world live in and forces us to consider how fortunate we are. i would recommend this book to anyone
• 
  Kelsey

  This book is incredibly moving. Its a light read in the heaviest sense. Its fairly brief in length but the content is literally overflowing into the packaging. It taught me so much that I totally ignored about the world. People need help, and so few people are aware of it.
• 
  Nora

  Read in grade 10 after I fell in love with Mia Kirshner. This was a compiled book of graphic novels, poems, images, etc. I fell in love with one of the graphic novels that told the tale of a boy who's father died and he had to buy a coffin for him. Made me tear up. I need to purchase this!
• 
  Matthew Murray

  It took me over two years to read this, in large part because it is just incredibly depressing. It makes me feel guilty to have any comforts in my life at all. Makes me wish I could do more to help other people, but I really don't know what.
• 
  Jen

  This book is very raw and is from the perspective of people who are mostly "victims" of their own government regime in one way or the other.