PROCESS NOTE
Character + Flaw transforms and alters pages from a 1908 book called The Compendium of Every Day Wants or Practical Information for the Millions by Luther Minter. The book is a rather joyless companion for American households with rigid gender roles. It provides advice for every aspect of American life—including how long a woman should mourn the death of a child— excepting anything done for pleasure. Layered over photo collages are short poems which are peppered with apologies, primarily women apologizing to men.
Carolyn Guinzio‘s eighth collection, Cameo Blue, is forthcoming in 2026 from Carnegie Mellon University Press. Earlier books include A Vertigo Book, winner of The Tenth Gate Prize and the Foreword Indies Prize, and Meanwhile in Arkansas (2025), winner of the Quarterly West Chapbook Prize. Her website is https://carolynguinzio.my.canva.site