Barbara Seyda's GAUDY SORROW is a surreal, epistolary memoir about her Basque friend who died of Covid on Christmas Eve. A rant elegy swerving like a euphoric requiem, over 200 short, blunt letters catapult us into an epic odyssey. Rowdy and transcendent, we zig zag through tightly-braided random moments, street slang, Shakespeare, Spanglish and over-wrought metaphors. This queer Covid narrative spews sexy rage and body parts like a swamp monster of grief - a hydra sprouting infinite heads from fresh wounds for the beloved. A female-centric opera and hybrid text, GAUDY SORROW flickers like a dead lightbulb, dazzling and bereft.