Zeena Fuleihan ‘18

The Words extends a hearty congratulations to our very own Professor Peter Bognanni for the publication of his second book and first young adult novel, Things I’m Seeing Without You, published by Dial Books from Penguin Random House. Things I’m Seeing Without You follows Tess Fowler as she deals with the death of her online boyfriend, Jonah, and her father’s growing funeral business, whose first client happens to be a racehorse. Neighborhood bookstore Common Good Books, in collaboration with the English Department, threw a release party for the book on October 3rd with friends, family, students past and present, and faculty.

The evening began with a reading and short commentary by Professor Bognanni. He chose two selections from the novel; the first filled the room with laughter as Tess’s dry teenage humor leapt off the page while the second brought a more somber tone as Tess grappled with her dependence on social media and its significance to her personal memories. Professor Bognanni exhibited his knack for storytelling as he held the overflowing audience spellbound.

Following the reading, Professor Bognanni took questions from the audience, which unearthed insights about the book as well as his own novel-crafting process. Many questions probed at the trials and tribulations of writing from the perspective of a 17-year-old girl, a perspective he has never experienced. One such question asked, “after spending time inside the head of a 17-year-old girl, what did you learn about her you didn’t expect?” Though he had continual advice from his wife as well as a few teen advisory boards whose job is to advise young adult book promotion, Professor Bognanni revealed that it took him a while to really get comfortable in Tess’s voice. At first, Professor Bognanni noted, he was most excited to write the story of a sarcastic, slightly angry teenage girl, but after spending substantial time in her narration, he realized that her more vulnerable side was equally, if not more, interesting.

Audience members also brought up concerns of writing about suicide for a young adult audience. Professor Bognanni explained that his goal was to counter the many harmful portrayals of suicide in the current media, which are often oversimplified and negative. He hopes that his readers will disagree with the mindset present in many of these depictions, but acknowledged that suicide is not the main focus of the book; it also tackles things left behind and the experience of grief.

Beyond questions about Things I’m Seeing Without You, Professor Bognanni also answered many about his craft, sharing practice tips such as writing for multiple hours at a time, because he finds that he gets out the “bad writing” in the first hour and cracks through to the “good stuff” after spending time on the page. He also discussed the challenge of sticking to a writing schedule now that he is a father, but acknowledged that the time spent in the chair is more important to him than the regularity of his writing sessions. Towards the end of the event, someone asked how he kept faith in Things I’m Seeing Without You as it went through its many iterations. Professor Bognanni described that, honestly, he didn’t always keep faith, but because he believed in his idea and cared about the story, he was able to persevere through the first few tries until he finally hit the right angle.

After about half an hour of questions, the audience lined up for autographs and the English Department student workers brought out stunningly accurate book cover cookies. The night ended in a warm atmosphere of friends connecting over delicious cookies, food for thought, and many signed copies of the book in hand. Things I’m Seeing Without You is available for purchase at Common Good Books, Barnes and Noble, IndieBound, and many other booksellers. From all of us at The Words, congratulations again to Professor Bognanni for his incredible new book.