ABOUT THIS BOOK

The dreamscape of a haunted and hopeful woman, back in print

Dubbed a “dreamoir,” Bruja is a bold and harrowing journey through the dream worlds of Wendy C. Ortiz. Sister memoir to Hollywood Notebook, it catalogs the happenings of the night: strange visions of the past warped by present-day inklings; animals running loose, never where they should be; familiar nature and architecture made malleable and new. Ortiz’s subconscious is bared in full on these pages as the author interrogates her histories. We bravely adventure into new literary form, walking the parallel plane of Ortiz’s waking life alongside her. Where the self is anchored in the deepest recesses of the mind, Ortiz invites us to push the boundaries of the subconscious and enter into the dreamoir.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

WENDY C. ORTIZ is a writer of creative nonfiction working in hybrid forms, essays, and memoir. She is the author of three books, all published by Northwestern University Press. Her writing has appeared in BOMB, Joyland, The New York Times, Pleiades, Fence, and many other journals. Ortiz is a therapist in private practice in Los Angeles.

REVIEWS

"Like all of us, Ortiz’s dream persona questions and doubts decisions and is full of wonderment at what desire and the self will be in the future. [Bruja] reads as though it is on loop: there is no beginning and no ending, only a series of isolated moments of existence that simultaneously trap us and shape us into who we will be in our waking lives." —Melissa Grunow, Coal Hill Review — -

"Bruja is not just a book; it is an enigma and a wonder and utterly entrancing." —Roxane Gay, NYT bestselling author of Bad Feminist

“[Bruja] is a testament to Ortiz’s courage as a memoirist that she’s willing to live for a while on this submarine plane, among the elements that dictate her fate—and to invite her readers along for the show.” —Los Angeles Times

"Wendy C. Ortiz has invented her own genre, in her sleep, no less. Bruja is at once lush and spare, funny and weird, disturbing and sometimes even beautiful in the way that dreams can be. She's crafted an absurdly real and compelling story here, one dream at a time." —Elizabeth Crane, author of The History of Great Things

"Ortiz is making bold statements about love, desire and womanhood as she defiantly navigates the absurdities and strangeness of everyday reality and taps into the comforting properties of fantasy and daydream." —NBCNews.com

"Ortiz's dreamoir is a multidimensional love story with the whole mess of existence. I loved it."—Dodie Bellamy, author of The TV Sutras

"This is a smart, strange, wonderfully expressive combination of fact and everything that hovers in the periphery of fact." —Vol. 1 Brooklyn

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"Like all of us, Ortiz’s dream persona questions and doubts decisions and is full of wonderment at what desire and the self will be in the future. [Bruja] reads as though it is on loop: there is no beginning and no ending, only a series of isolated moments of existence that simultaneously trap us and shape us into who we will be in our waking lives." —Melissa Grunow, Coal Hill Review — -

"Bruja is not just a book; it is an enigma and a wonder and utterly entrancing." —Roxane Gay, NYT bestselling author of Bad Feminist

“[Bruja] is a testament to Ortiz’s courage as a memoirist that she’s willing to live for a while on this submarine plane, among the elements that dictate her fate—and to invite her readers along for the show.” —Los Angeles Times

"Wendy C. Ortiz has invented her own genre, in her sleep, no less. Bruja is at once lush and spare, funny and weird, disturbing and sometimes even beautiful in the way that dreams can be. She's crafted an absurdly real and compelling story here, one dream at a time." —Elizabeth Crane, author of The History of Great Things

"Ortiz is making bold statements about love, desire and womanhood as she defiantly navigates the absurdities and strangeness of everyday reality and taps into the comforting properties of fantasy and daydream." —NBCNews.com

"Ortiz's dreamoir is a multidimensional love story with the whole mess of existence. I loved it."—Dodie Bellamy, author of The TV Sutras

"This is a smart, strange, wonderfully expressive combination of fact and everything that hovers in the periphery of fact." —Vol. 1 Brooklyn

— -

"Like all of us, Ortiz’s dream persona questions and doubts decisions and is full of wonderment at what desire and the self will be in the future. [Bruja] reads as though it is on loop: there is no beginning and no ending, only a series of isolated moments of existence that simultaneously trap us and shape us into who we will be in our waking lives." —Melissa Grunow, Coal Hill Review — -

"Bruja is not just a book; it is an enigma and a wonder and utterly entrancing." —Roxane Gay, NYT bestselling author of Bad Feminist

“[Bruja] is a testament to Ortiz’s courage as a memoirist that she’s willing to live for a while on this submarine plane, among the elements that dictate her fate—and to invite her readers along for the show.” —Los Angeles Times

"Wendy C. Ortiz has invented her own genre, in her sleep, no less. Bruja is at once lush and spare, funny and weird, disturbing and sometimes even beautiful in the way that dreams can be. She's crafted an absurdly real and compelling story here, one dream at a time." —Elizabeth Crane, author of The History of Great Things

"Ortiz is making bold statements about love, desire and womanhood as she defiantly navigates the absurdities and strangeness of everyday reality and taps into the comforting properties of fantasy and daydream." —NBCNews.com

"Ortiz's dreamoir is a multidimensional love story with the whole mess of existence. I loved it."—Dodie Bellamy, author of The TV Sutras

"This is a smart, strange, wonderfully expressive combination of fact and everything that hovers in the periphery of fact." —Vol. 1 Brooklyn

— -

"Bruja is not just a book; it is an enigma and a wonder and utterly entrancing." —Roxane Gay, NYT bestselling author of Bad Feminist

“[Bruja] is a testament to Ortiz’s courage as a memoirist that she’s willing to live for a while on this submarine plane, among the elements that dictate her fate—and to invite her readers along for the show.” —Los Angeles Times

"Wendy C. Ortiz has invented her own genre, in her sleep, no less. Bruja is at once lush and spare, funny and weird, disturbing and sometimes even beautiful in the way that dreams can be. She's crafted an absurdly real and compelling story here, one dream at a time." —Elizabeth Crane, author of The History of Great Things

"Ortiz is making bold statements about love, desire and womanhood as she defiantly navigates the absurdities and strangeness of everyday reality and taps into the comforting properties of fantasy and daydream." —NBCNews.com

"Ortiz's dreamoir is a multidimensional love story with the whole mess of existence. I loved it."—Dodie Bellamy, author of The TV Sutras

"This is a smart, strange, wonderfully expressive combination of fact and everything that hovers in the periphery of fact." —Vol. 1 Brooklyn

"Like all of us, Ortiz’s dream persona questions and doubts decisions and is full of wonderment at what desire and the self will be in the future. [Bruja] reads as though it is on loop: there is no beginning and no ending, only a series of isolated moments of existence that simultaneously trap us and shape us into who we will be in our waking lives." —Melissa Grunow, Coal Hill Review

"Wendy C. Ortiz is an essential chronicler of queer embodiment, dreams, and the ways that place and perspective create us. What a treasure to be gifted these bold and lyrical modern classics in updated form." —Melissa Febos, national bestselling author of Girlhood, Body Work, and The Dry Season

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

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