HomeAbout the Project

About the Project

The Twisted Intimacy: Genuine Warmth and Disturbing Perversions exhibit is the third in a series of three themed digital exhibits showcasing artifacts from the Robert Cormier Collection at Fitchburg State University's Amelia V. Gallucci-Cirio Library. The 2015 exhibit, Censorship and Intolerance, addressed the topic of censorship, and the third and the 2016 exhibit, Evil, Empathy, and Finding Humanity, focused on terrorism and bullying.

Our goal with these three exhibits is not to digitize the entire collection, but rather, to feature and promote further research in this rich archive. The aim of each exhibit is to highlight portions of the collection related to a core set of Cormier’s work with three novels for each digital exhibit. Twisted Intimacy: Genuine Warmth and Disturbing Perversion includes artifacts related to Tenderness, Heroes, and The Toybreakers, an unpublished manuscript. Robert Cormier’s work and influence in young adult literature is without question. To house his collection at Fitchburg State University is a privilege, and we would like to encourage more due attention to the collection by bringing a small portion of its treasures to the digital world and encourage further scholarly work.

We hope that users of the exhibit will not only benefit from its contents academically or even personally, but that they will share and comment on the work here. We imagine this exhibit as a base for developing conversations about Cormier, YA literature, and the subjects of abuse, bullying, and terrorism more broadly. As you move through the exhibit, note that we have arranged materials into five collections visible from the "Explore Archive Exhibits" on our top menu.

As you open individual documents, keep in mind that clicking on a hyperlinked "tag" will bring you to a list of other documents in the exhibit with that same tag.