In her early thirties and an aspiring literary journalist, Sarah Menkedick joins her baby brother Jackson and his precious Honda, the ”Jackwagon,” for fourteen transformative days on an east-coast backpacking adventure. The two cross mountains and by the end—exhausted to the core and unshowered—they reflect on the trajectory of their lives, the music they make and listen to, the principles to which they strive, and the disillusionment one can encounter after years of doggedly pursuing a passion. With only each other for company, they escape the trappings of their material lives. Together, they learn to heal, to love, and finally—to listen to one another.
SARAH MENKEDICK’s debut essay collection Homing Instincts was longlisted for the PEN/ Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay. Her writing has appeared in, among other publications, Harper’s Magazine, Pacific Standard, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, The Guardian, The Kenyon Review, The Paris Review Daily, Buzzfeed, Aeon, and Longreads. She holds an MFA in nonfiction from the University of Pittsburgh, where she taught nonfiction writing. She lives in Pittsburgh with her family.
Menkedick’s newest work, Ordinary Insanity, is due from Pantheon in April 2020.
In her early thirties and an aspiring literary journalist, Sarah Menkedick joins her baby brother Jackson and his precious Honda, the ”Jackwagon,” for fourteen transformative days on an east-coast backpacking adventure. The two cross mountains and by the end—exhausted to the core and unshowered—they reflect on the trajectory of their lives, the music they make and listen to, the principles to which they strive, and the disillusionment one can encounter after years of doggedly pursuing a passion. With only each other for company, they escape the trappings of their material lives. Together, they learn to heal, to love, and finally—to listen to one another.
SARAH MENKEDICK’s debut essay collection Homing Instincts was longlisted for the PEN/ Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay. Her writing has appeared in, among other publications, Harper’s Magazine, Pacific Standard, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, The Guardian, The Kenyon Review, The Paris Review Daily, Buzzfeed, Aeon, and Longreads. She holds an MFA in nonfiction from the University of Pittsburgh, where she taught nonfiction writing. She lives in Pittsburgh with her family.
Menkedick’s newest work, Ordinary Insanity, is due from Pantheon in April 2020.
