Clam Down: A Metamorphosis

by Anelise Chen

In this inventive memoir, Anelise Chen imagines herself as a mollusc during her shattering divorce, after her mistyping mother repeatedly urges her by instant message to “clam down.” In exploring past examples of hermits and extreme introverts—and speaking to her reclusive father about the years spent working alone on his mysterious ‘Shell Computing’ software—she examines the urge to close oneself off from the world.