JOURNEY TO LONG NOSE*

A woman’s winding journey to self-discovery, family, and the joys of storytelling.

Based on her popular one-woman show of the same name, educator and author Pollock offers a memoir in which she thoughtfully contemplates her own sense of identity—spurred in large part by her uniquely shaped (and sized) nose. A photo of the author in profile highlights said nose, the dimensions of which she chalks up to her Italian, Serbian, and Cherokee ancestry. As she charts the formative events of her life, from living with her “glamorous” grandmother with the silver wig to embracing parts of her culture by exchanging wedding vows entirely in the Cherokee language, Pollock intersperses personal anecdotes with deep self-reflection to answer a larger question: “How does my perception of my place, my people, my religion, and my nation impact how I see you seeing me, and how I see myself?” Researching her own family’s ancestry, the author came upon some surprising DNA results that further threw into question what it truly means to be oneself. Pollock’s sharp wit comes across brilliantly on the page, combining a playful sense of self-deprecation with endearing earnestness, as reflected in the effortless swings between amusing stories (like her first boyfriend’s wildly misguided attempts to connect with her Cherokee ancestry) and poignant observations. (“Belongingness is a matter of perspective, depending on from how high a vantage point you care to look, and how far back in history you care to go.”) While the plethora of details about her family tree sometimes stalls the book’s pacing, Pollock’s endearing narrative voice carries readers through a heartfelt and hilarious narrative that invites them to contemplate their own histories. The result is a quirky and moving meditation on our society’s obsession with identity.

A riveting exploration of identity conveyed with irreverence and compassion.