The Going and Goodbye
Shuly Xóchitl Cawood
978-0-9935321-9-1 · 192 pages · 129 × 198 mm · Jun. 2017
The Going and Goodbye is an examination of loss and leaving and the search for meaning in the memories that remain.
Tracing a path through rural Ohio, the American south and the small towns of Mexico, this memoir breathes life into a marriage and its dissolution; finds a voice that fears mortality then faces it; explores faith in the face of these losses; and ultimately, reveals the power of love and letting go.
Watch a short introduction for the book from the author.

Shuly Xóchitl Cawood has an MFA from Queens University. Her creative writing has been published in The Rumpus, Zone 3, Two Cities Review, Rust + Moth, and San Pedro River Review, among others. Originally from Ohio, she now lives in Tennessee.
Praise & Reviews
The Going and Goodbye is a revelation.
— Matthew Goodman
Really powerful […] It sticks with you.
— Allen Mendenhall
I read this with great pleasure.
— Bobbie Ann Mason
This is a voice you can trust with your life.
— Joyce Dyer
[F]ull of astute reflections.
— Kate Wakeling
Cawood’s writing [is] beautifully spare.
— Karen Elias
Excerpts
- A Case, Diagnosis, and Its Findings — The Rumpus
- An Unexpected Light — Mud Season Review
Misc.
- Book Cougars podcast — Episode 22
- Book Nook, on WYSO & NPR
- Book Bites, with Steph Post
- Rate or review the book on Goodreads