Now nearly 80 years old, Martha Munzer has had a busy, interesting life, but telling it to children in an intentionally and...

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Now nearly 80 years old, Martha Munzer has had a busy, interesting life, but telling it to children in an intentionally and self-consciously inspirational tone will be as effective as a Sunday sermon. Not that her story has common contents--it doesn't. She was an M.I.T. student in 1919, a chemistry teacher (no stay-at-home) when her children were growing up, and an active conservationist in her later years. She also enjoyed the same lover, off and on, for 40 years. Although leavened by a few memories, her ""personal inventory"" is told here in strained, heavy cadences. ""Isn't this rhythm of the seasons typical also of the seasons of a person's life?"" ""Questing--the continual search for the meaning of one's individuality--is the task of a lifetime."" One can imagine Mrs. Munzer, a lively intelligence, connecting in person to a young audience, but this solemn effort to impart a point of view sounds stilted.

Pub Date: Oct. 30, 1978

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Knopf

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1978

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