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Tag Archives: essays

These Precious Days: Essays by Ann Patchett

08 Tuesday Mar 2022

Posted by Weston Public Library Staff in anecdotes, Biography, meaning of life, Non-fiction

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American authors, autobiography, essays

Here is a book to linger with.  It’s like talking and reflecting with a an old friend over shared experience with someone who has gone down the same road but whispers a little more wisdom so gently that you just want more time with her.  Savor this collection about Patchett’s family, clearing the clutter, her decision not to have children, her three fathers, writing, her own bookstore, and an unforgettable friendship during Covid.  You will definitely find favorites. 

“The elegance of Patchett’s prose is seductive and inviting: with Patchett as a guide, readers will really get to grips with the power of struggles, failures, and triumphs alike.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“An enviable life shared with candor, emotion, and knockout storytelling power.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“To read this collection is to be invited into that sacred space where a writer steps out from behind the page to say Hello; let’s really get to know each other. Stoic, kindhearted, fierce, funny, brainy, Patchett’s essays honor what matters most ‘in this precarious and precious life.'” — Oprah Daily

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Sure, I’ll Be Your Black Friend: Notes from the Other Side of the Fist Bump by Ben Phillippe  

29 Monday Nov 2021

Posted by Weston Public Library Staff in 20th century, anecdotes, Biography, Non-fiction, United States

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African American authors, African American men, American wit and humor, essays, humor, race relations, racism, social conditions, United States

I loved Phillippe’s memoir and description of growing up in Canada and eventually moving the to US.  Biting humor and moving.

“Flat-out funny…This is a great next-book for fans of What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Blacker and We Are Never Meeting in Real Life, but if a reader hasn’t turned to either of those yet, Philippe’s disarming, illuminating, and hilarious chronicle is a great place to start.” — Booklist

“I still mute Ben’s texts, but I inhaled his hilarious book, which is so full of razor-sharp wit and punches to the gut that it almost made me sick. In a good way!” — Samantha Irby, New York Times bestselling author of Wow, No Thank You

“Philippe has created a funny, and at times harrowing, memoir of his experience as a Black man. Fans of similar memoirs, such as Damon Young’s What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Blacker, will enjoy the irreverence and recognize themselves in these pages.” — Library Journal

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A Ghost in the Throat by Doireann Ní Ghríofa

30 Saturday Oct 2021

Posted by Weston Public Library Staff in Non-fiction

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biography, creative non-fiction, essays, Ireland, Irish poetry, poetry, self-realization in women, women authors

A contemporary Irish woman sets out to learn more about Eibhlín Dubh Ní Chonaill, an 18th century female Irish poet, and her famous lament for her husband. In her reading and travels around Ireland, she finds connections between her own life as a poet and mother to this woman born hundreds of years earlier. This is an unusual book, and I loved the beautiful writing and pieces of Irish poetry and history.

“A powerful, bewitching blend of memoir and literary investigation … Ní Ghríofa is deeply attuned to the gaps, silences and mysteries in women’s lives, and the book reveals, perhaps above all else, how we absorb what we love―a child, a lover, a poem―and how it changes us from the inside out.”―Nina Maclaughlin, New York Times

 “A Ghost in the Throat moves between past and present with hallucinogenic intensity as the narrator uncovers the details of the dead woman’s life, each revelation deepening her own sense of herself as a writer and a woman and creating in the process a brave and beautiful work of art.”―Republic of Consciousness Prize

“A fascinating hybrid work in which the voices of two Irish female poets ring out across centuries. ‘When we first met, I was a child, and she had been dead for centuries,’ writes Ní Ghríofa in her first work of prose―and what a debut it is. Earning well-deserved accolades abroad, the book merges memoir, history, biography, autofiction, and literary analysis… Lyrical prose passages and moving introspection abound in this unique and beautiful book.”―Kirkus (starred review)

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