A Novel by Zach Powers
Preorder now! Coming April 2026 from JackLeg Press
“A prismatic chronicle of mind, memory and loss.”
–Patricia Lockwood, Booker Prize finalist author of Will There Ever Be Another You
“This is an addictive, fascinating read. I highly recommend it!”
–Jose Hernandez Diaz, author of Bad Mexican, Bad American
READ AN EXCERPT IN THE BROOKLYN RAIL »
With lyrical prose and a deeply empathetic voice, The Migraine Diaries offers a raw, unflinching look at the impact of chronic illness on the human spirit.
When a 30-something man experiences his first migraine at the funeral for his best friend, his life within a close-knit friend group threatens to come undone. He must navigate despair and debilitation alongside relationships, work, and the quest for meaning. He struggles to find sparks of hope and beauty even as his body and mind rebel against him.
How does he live with endless, invisible hurt? How does he support his friends even as he loses the ability to support himself? His very experience of time alters—looping, regressing, and flashing back to a before that’s lost forever.
The Migraine Diaries, told in the unique format of a diagnostic headache journal, is a visionary look at human endurance, as well as a poignant exploration of pain. Most of all, it’s a testament to the power of friendship in the face of strife and grief.
Preorder from your local, independent bookseller or wherever you get your books!
Consider some of these favorite indie bookshops below, and available anywhere online, including Bookshop.org »
Washington, DC area (more to come!)
"Pills are little pebbles and some of them kill you." –THE MIGRAINE DIARIES
Praise for THE MIGRAINE DIARIES
“Powers understands the instant obliteration of a headache and, brilliantly, juxtaposes that with the loss of a friend. Should someone ever take up [Virginia] Woolf’s challenge and assemble a literary anthology of maladies, they should look first to Powers for his descriptions of the headache.” —The Brooklyn Rail