Twin citizen: a memoir

Abstract

Twin Citizen: A Memoir is a book-length work recounting the writer's life in the Minneapolis/St. Paul metropolitan area from 2004 to 2012. The primary plot motivator is the writer's inability to obtain and maintain stable housing; the work is divided chronologically into eight sections, one for each address he lived at, to reinforce the plot. Two secondary plots further guide the writing. First is a disability narrative depicting the writer's struggle for the accurate diagnosis and appropriate treatment of multiple psychological disorders, originating from an abusive childhood and the conflict between his evangelical Christian faith and gay sexual orientation. The second plot line involves the writer's job in customer service at a museum and the interrelationship between how his disabilities interfere with his job performance and how the high-stress work further exacerbates his symptoms. The memoir tackles the subject of intersectionality by illustrating how the writer both enjoys privilege as a white male American citizen and suffers lack of privilege as a gay lower-class disabled individual. This paradox serves as the basis for the work's fundamental themes of duality, deception, and misrepresentation. Furthermore, these themes help to challenge the cultural norms of Minnesota that allow for a liberal and progressive environment but hold at arm's length the marginalized communities that most benefit from progressive policies. Stylistically, the prose relies on fragmentation and experimentation, making much use of stream-of-consciousness and adopting poetic devices such as caesura and concrete poetry. This approach attempts to simulate for the reader the psychological state of the narrator.