Books and My Precious River

I want to be out in the gorgeous weather, but my town is understandably awash in families on this clear September Saturday. An Italian festival is going strong a few blocks away on our idyllic waterfront promenade.

Still, I have a gift for finding ways to joyful solitude even in crowds, so I snag a bench a few blocks from the carnival atmosphere and settle in. Hudson River and New York skyline in front of me, I am not moving from this spot until I finish Stephanie Land’s book. A clear mission.

I am more than halfway through and just haven’t been able to make time for the push to the end. This book is a ride, and not a smooth one. The only thing keeping me from putting it down is that I know the gnawing angst I’ve had throughout is going to give way to some kind of triumph.

Why? Because I am holding a beautiful hard-cover book in my hand published by Hachette with a foreword by Barbara Ehrenreich.

God, I love memoir.

All of the godawful stories of cleaning people’s dirty bathrooms, putting up with snide comments about her food stamps, locating a place to live that doesn’t jeopardize her child’s health, living in fear of her child’s father fighting her for custody, and trying to carve out moments of dignity and peace are going to have a payoff. This author is going to inspire, simply by virtue of…