Shrinking the Monster: Healing the Wounds of Our Abuse

by Norbert Krapf

The author documents in great detail why and how he finally (after fifty years of refusing to do so), went public with what had been done to him as a young boy in the 1950s by the pastor of his family's Catholic parish in Jasper, Indiana, a man who was a supposed friend of his parents. Each step in Krapf's ongoing recovery is documented in careful prose, with frequent references to his book of poetry on the abuse, Catholic Boy Blues, which he published in 2014 at age 70.

Paperback

Published August 15, 2016

Reviews

[Tom Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shrinking the Monster is a companion book to the poet's visceral collection of poems, Catholic Boy Blues. It could be read before or after the poems, but it does also stand on its own even if you do not read the poems. On its surface, it is an account of the many steps in the process by which the poet came to write the poems that deal with the sexual abuse he experienced from his priest while growing up in a tightly knit German Catholic community in southern Indiana, how he put himself on a path toward healing, a path he continually has to walk, and how he got the poems published and the accompanying publicity.

But by following the general outlines of the path he spells out for himself, he does give guidance to other survivors whether or not the abuser was a Catholic priest. Articulate the abuse in one form or another, if not in poems like Krapf, who has published many books of poetry and served as Indiana Poet Laureate for two years, then in another way. Talk about it with a knowledgeable therapist. Surround yourself with supportive and trustworthy people. Maintain your boundaries.

Since I am the partner of survivor, I especially appreciated how he talked about the support he received from his wife and also acknowledged how the abuse he suffered more than fifty years ago has also affected her.

[Justin Hamm · Rating 5 out of 5]

A couple of years ago, I read Norbert Krapf's Catholic Boy Blues, a powerful, powerful collection of poems unlike any I had read before, each of them another step in a brave unburdening about childhood abuse at the hands of a Catholic priest. These were poems that were both well-crafted and undeniably important.

Now Krapf brings us Shrinking the Monster, part memoir about the writing of CBB and the healing process, part artist's statement, part education into the abuse scandal's of the Catholic Church, and part guide map for readers who might be in need of healing themselves. Krapf writes with clarity, honesty, intelligence, insight, and heart. By describing his journey and the accompanying thoughts, he demystifies some of the processes of seeking help in a way that might lead others to be less afraid to do so. And in the end, Shrinking the Monster is also testimony to the ability of poetry to tangibly affect lives.

I was deeply moved by CBB, and I recommend these books in tandem, but either could be read alone. I hope they are, and by many people, those in need of help and those in of an education about the effects of abuse.