A brisk, unadorned personal account of a trying time in one woman’s life.
A memoir of one woman’s battle with cancer and her reliance on faith from debut author Kreinhop, with occasional commentary by author Calvert (How I Quit Smoking and Lived to Tell About It, 2014).
After having a tumor discovered in her chest, the author first experienced shock—“I was numb all over”—followed by tears, prayer and, eventually, a kind of spiritual acceptance. (“God had a plan. If I were part of that plan for the future, I would be in it. If not, I wouldn’t. So be it!”) And so begins a personal journey through a daunting world of doctors, tests and chemotherapy. Aided by friends, volunteers and an unrelenting belief in a higher power, the author endures the often painful and embarrassing world of a cancer diagnosis and treatment. From the struggles of getting to treatment sessions through difficult Indiana weather to the debilitating nausea of chemotherapy, the fight against cancer is never an easy one, even with the author’s tenacious pluck. Admitting at times to nervousness, self-pity and frustration (even with those who are attempting to help, such as someone who has volunteered to drive the author to the hospital even if they apparently are not very skilled at driving), Kreinhop presents her journey in an immensely believable fashion and puts a human face on the world-shattering position of such a grave diagnosis. Relatable for any reader who has been through such a journey (or may be facing one), the story maintains a steady pace, pausing only to mention—though never to linger—on moments of fear and trepidation. Abutted with personal details that help to illuminate the individuals involved (such as the author’s joy at receiving an exercise bike one Christmas), the overall feel is one of a no-nonsense family story that, though lacking in robust flourishes, maintains its verisimilitude. Short on embellishments, the story amounts to one woman’s honest telling of a very real and common occurrence.
A brisk, unadorned personal account of a trying time in one woman’s life.Pub Date: Feb. 14, 2014
ISBN: 978-1493760220
Page Count: 110
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: May 9, 2014
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A superb book about doing his job by a master of his craft.
The renowned writer offers advice on information-gathering and nonfiction composition.
The book consists of eight instructive and charming essays about creating narratives, all of them originally composed for the New Yorker, where McPhee (Silk Parachute, 2010, etc.) has been a contributor since the mid-1960s. Reading them consecutively in one volume constitutes a master class in writing, as the author clearly demonstrates why he has taught so successfully part-time for decades at Princeton University. In one of the essays, McPhee focuses on the personalities and skills of editors and publishers for whom he has worked, and his descriptions of those men and women are insightful and delightful. The main personality throughout the collection, though, is McPhee himself. He is frequently self-deprecating, occasionally openly proud of his accomplishments, and never boring. In his magazine articles and the books resulting from them, McPhee rarely injects himself except superficially. Within these essays, he offers a departure by revealing quite a bit about his journalism, his teaching life, and daughters, two of whom write professionally. Throughout the collection, there emerge passages of sly, subtle humor, a quality often absent in McPhee’s lengthy magazine pieces. Since some subjects are so weighty—especially those dealing with geology—the writing can seem dry. There is no dry prose here, however. Almost every sentence sparkles, with wordplay evident throughout. Another bonus is the detailed explanation of how McPhee decided to tackle certain topics and then how he chose to structure the resulting pieces. Readers already familiar with the author’s masterpieces—e.g., Levels of the Game, Encounters with the Archdruid, Looking for a Ship, Uncommon Carriers, Oranges, and Coming into the Country—will feel especially fulfilled by McPhee’s discussions of the specifics from his many books.
A superb book about doing his job by a master of his craft.Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-374-14274-2
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: May 8, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2017
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
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