Fry makes sophisticated use of speech act theory and trauma theory, arguing that trauma resists the kind of closure and determinacy that speech acts attempt to create. Instead, she advocates reading “in the middle of the thick,” sitting with the text's failure to arrive at closure. Fry does more than provide trauma-informed interpretations of biblical texts, or even a methodology for arriving at them. She shows readers how to avoid the safety valves of resolution and academic distance and how to cultivate the persistent willingness to dwell in the fog of trauma's many ambiguities. Her work is generous and brave, and it belongs in any conversation about the Bible and trauma.

Chris Jones, Washburn University

I loved this book! One of the best experiences of being a teacher is seeing a student going off in interesting new directions, returning to teach you. From the opening chapter with its fascinating engagement with GennaRose Nethercott's novel, Thistlefoot with its poignant metaphor of the house on chicken legs to deal with the trauma inflicted by Longshadow Man, to conversations between Shrek and Donkey to illuminate speech act theory, Fry's monograph Trauma Talks offers fresh perspectives on the field of trauma Hermeneutics as it intersects with speech act theory to bring to life old texts in powerful new ways. Essential reading!

Juliana Claassens, Stellenbosch University

As much as trauma and speech act evade monosignification and stable categorization, Fry's Trauma Talks in the Hebrew Bible presents a clear, accessible, and compassionate exposition of the two interconnected subjects, all without losing sight of their compound movements. Exchanging academic sterility for human complexity, Fry moves us through the thick traumatic contexts of the Hebrew Bible and the equally thick speech acts its traumas conjure. I echo her own invitation within the monograph: stay awhile.

Sarah Emanuel, Loyola Marymount University