Shall We Say a Prayer?

Shall We Say A Prayer? is an original collection of essays that explores the various and integral elements of mental illness, loss, anger, and the anxiety of masculinity. The collection begins with the author’s admittance into a mental hospital at the age of twelve; in the first essay, “Jester,” Freeland writes, “My hospitalization has become the narrative I can’t let go.” Indeed, a recurrent theme is how illness affects not only the individual, but the entire family. Throughout the collection, Freeland relies on dogs, knives, and his sense of humor as tools for his survival through adolescent trauma into an adult’s search for faith and meaning.