American Bulk: Essays on Excess

by Emily Mester

The adults around me loved to apologize for their messes, tossing I’m sorry around without thinking, like please and thank you.

I’ve been friendly all my life, she said wistfully. But now, I’m excited to be unknown.

Psychologists like to emphasize the importance of play, the activities we do for pleasure and for pleasure’s sake alone, the means by which we shape our sense of self. Play is what bonds us.

When I was growing up, if my dad was talking about Iowa, he was making fun of it. He said it was an acronym for Idiots Out Walking Around.