A pleasant chronicle of living life outside one’s comfort zone.
Account of a travel-happy American family bent on a “global” education for the children.
A former dance instructor at the University of Montana, Ragsdale takes a frank approach to observing life in Penedo, a colonial hill town in the northeastern Brazilian state of Alagoas, where the family of four serendipitously decided to move from Missoula for a year in 2010 and 2011. Fearless to embrace total immersion when no one, including the two children, knew any Portuguese, the family let the year unfold without trying to enforce a hurried American method to the laid-back, unbuttoned Brazilian way of life. Ragsdale grew up traveling abroad with her diplomat family, from Manila to Cairo, and had already lived with her writer husband, Peter, in places like Ghana, Indonesia, and Mozambique. They were ecstatic to find a cheap house in Penedo to rent and the ability to afford a full-time housekeeper and cook. Catholic school for their son, Skyler, 12, and daughter, Molly, 15, proved a challenge due to the language barrier, and making friends was difficult, especially for Skyler, who felt both criticized by the youth as well as adored by the girls for his blond strangeness. Enjoying little privacy or quiet—Ragsdale writes of having to let go of a Western sense of possession—the family was confronted by their senses of privilege and entitlement in terms of having the money to pay for things that the small-town Brazilians could not afford. In short, anecdotal passages the author recounts the ups and downs of daily life—befriending a series of 20-something guides, navigating the permissive teenage parties for her daughter, taking up capoeira, establishing relationships with the market vendors, and managing the rather bossy, cynical locals—with a pleasant candidness. In the end, she displays a deep gratitude for the eye-opening adventures.
A pleasant chronicle of living life outside one’s comfort zone.Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-58005-586-4
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Seal Press
Review Posted Online: Sept. 2, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2015
A highly readable account of how solid research and personal testing of self-help techniques saved a couple's marriage after...
Self-help advice and personal reflections on avoiding spousal fights while raising children.
Before her daughter was born, bestselling author Dunn (Why Is My Mother Getting a Tattoo?: And Other Questions I Wish I Never Had to Ask, 2009, etc.) enjoyed steady work and a happy marriage. However, once she became a mother, there never seemed to be enough time, sleep, and especially help from her husband. Little irritations became monumental obstacles between them, which led to major battles. Consequently, they turned to expensive couples' therapy to help them regain some peace in life. In a combination of memoir and advice that can be found in most couples' therapy self-help books, Dunn provides an inside look at her own vexing issues and the solutions she and her husband used to prevent them from appearing in divorce court. They struggled with age-old battles fought between men and women—e.g., frequency of sex, who does more housework, who should get up with the child in the middle of the night, why women need to have a clean house, why men need more alone time, and many more. What Dunn learned via therapy, talks with other parents, and research was that there is no perfect solution to the many dynamics that surface once couples become parents. But by using time-tested techniques, she and her husband learned to listen, show empathy, and adjust so that their former status as a happy couple could safely and peacefully morph into a happy family. Readers familiar with Dunn's honest and humorous writing will appreciate the behind-the-scenes look at her own semi-messy family life, and those who need guidance through the rough spots can glean advice while being entertained—all without spending lots of money on couples’ therapy.
A highly readable account of how solid research and personal testing of self-help techniques saved a couple's marriage after the birth of their child.Pub Date: March 21, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-316-26710-6
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Jan. 17, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A miscellany of paternal pride (and frustration) darkened by the author’s increasing realizations of his mortality.
Ruminations and reminiscences of an author—now in his 70s—about fatherhood, writing, and death.
O’Brien (July, July, 2002, etc.), who achieved considerable literary fame with both Going After Cacciato (1978) and The Things They Carried (1990), returns with an eclectic assembly of pieces that grow increasingly valedictory as the idea of mortality creeps in. (The title comes from the author’s uncertainty about his ability to assemble these pieces in a single volume.) He begins and ends with a letter: The initial one is to his first son (from 2003); the terminal one, to his two sons, both of whom are now teens (the present). Throughout the book, there are a number of recurring sections: “Home School” (lessons for his sons to accomplish), “The Magic Show” (about his long interest in magic), and “Pride” (about his feelings for his sons’ accomplishments). O’Brien also writes often about his own father. One literary figure emerges as almost a member of the family: Ernest Hemingway. The author loves Hemingway’s work (except when he doesn’t) and often gives his sons some of Papa’s most celebrated stories to read and think and write about. Near the end is a kind of stand-alone essay about Hemingway’s writings about war and death, which O’Brien realizes is Hemingway’s real subject. Other celebrated literary figures pop up in the text, including Elizabeth Bishop, Andrew Marvell, George Orwell, and Flannery O’Connor. Although O’Brien’s strong anti-war feelings are prominent throughout, his principal interest is fatherhood—specifically, at becoming a father later in his life and realizing that he will miss so much of his sons’ lives. He includes touching and amusing stories about his toddler sons, about the sadness he felt when his older son became a teen and began to distance himself, and about his anguish when his sons failed at something.
A miscellany of paternal pride (and frustration) darkened by the author’s increasing realizations of his mortality.Pub Date: Oct. 14, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-618-03970-8
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2019
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