Andrea Scrima is the author of the novel “A Lesser Day” (Spuyten Duyvil Press, 2010), literary critic for The Brooklyn Rail and The Rumpus, and co-editor of Hyperion: On the Future of Aesthetics. She lives in Berlin.
There was a time that I didn’t feel safe in my own home. Every night before bed, after I’d tested the doorknob to make sure it was locked, I lodged a kitchen chair securely under it.