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SLAYERS, EVERY ONE OF US: How One Girl in All the World Showed Us How to Hold On,<\/strong> by Kristin Russo and Jenny Owen Youngs<\/p>\n \u201cThe story you most often hear about divorce, about heartbreak, is the story of an ending. A light switch flicked into the Off position,\u201d writes Jenny Owen Youngs<\/a> in \u201cSlayers, Every One of Us,\u201d a memoir written with her ex-wife, Kristin Russo<\/a>. \u201cBut what if you clicked the bulb back on?\u201d<\/p>\n Restoring the power is the dominant theme in their book, with that light source being the creative partnership the two achieved through their podcast about \u201cBuffy the Vampire Slayer,\u201d<\/a> even as their romantic partnership went dark five years after their 2013 marriage. <\/p>\n The book is narrated by both women, with each providing her perspective on their shared history in alternating sections. Russo (a speaker, a consultant and an \u201cItalian-born, Long Island-raised triple fire sign\u201d) comes off as the more ebullient and emotional partner. Youngs (a musician and songwriter who has \u201calways been a bit more grounded in reality\u201d) is more sardonic and taciturn.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Boom-and-bust romance memoirs are common, but mix in fervent fandom and original music and we\u2019ve got ourselves a different approach to the well-trod ground here \u2014 all spurred on by a 1990s television show about a girl with superhuman strength fighting evil with help from her pals. (The book\u2019s title comes from an inspirational speech<\/a>, given by Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy Summers, to a room full of young women in the final episode of the series: \u201cI say my power should be our<\/em> power. \u2026 Slayers, every one of us.\u201d)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The pair\u2019s mutual love of \u201cBuffy\u201d led them to create a podcast in 2016 called \u201cBuffering the Vampire Slayer.\u201d<\/a> Their show stood out among the usual nattering nerd productions, thanks to the intelligent, queer-centric commentary and a handcrafted soundtrack; each episode included at least one original song about the series. The podcast became popular enough to be a \u201cJeopardy!\u201d question. Huge numbers of listeners turned out for live recording sessions and \u201cBuffy\u201d-themed proms. And it is the women\u2019s devotion to producing this labor of love \u2014 even while in the throes of the breakup \u2014 that drives the narrative.<\/p>\n The book\u2019s seven numbered chapters retrace the authors\u2019 lives together and are roughly mapped to the trajectory of the seven \u201cBuffy\u201d seasons. It\u2019s a convenient structure, but just like a long-running genre TV show, there\u2019s some obvious filler and bits of melodramatic foreshadowing sprinkled here and there: \u201cIf only we\u2019d consulted the \u2018Buffy\u2019 mirror in which we increasingly saw our lives reflected, we could have glimpsed our futures.\u201d (With a revival of the television series reportedly in development<\/a>, Russo and Youngs may have to write a sequel.)<\/p>\n Devotees of \u201cBuffy the Vampire Slayer\u201d and the podcast are most likely the target audience for this book, but it can also be viewed as a joyful ode to the awesome ability of pop-culture arcana to create a solid community \u2014 especially in the modern era where the internet and digital tools give fans more options for connecting and creating new content from their own interpretations<\/a> of the material. Fan culture has come a long way from those mimeographed Kirk-Spock love stories<\/a> that used to circulate at \u201cStar Trek\u201d conventions in the 1970s.<\/p>\n William Shatner<\/a>, Kirk himself, once joked that ardent \u201cStar Trek\u201d fans should \u201cget a life,\u201d<\/a> and some people may dismiss taking direction from a TV show. But humans have been using myth and legend as motivation for centuries, and Buffy\u2019s challenges are just a modern variation of the trials faced by Odysseus, Beowulf and other warriors. And as \u201cSlayers, Every One of Us\u201d illustrates, the hero\u2019s journey is easier with friends.<\/p>\n SLAYERS, EVERY ONE OF US<\/strong>: How One Girl in All the World Showed Us How to Hold On<\/strong> | By Kristin Russo and Jenny Owen Youngs | St. Martin\u2019s Press | 256 pp. | $28<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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