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jrc2011's review against another edition
5.0
I was pleasantly surprised to win a copy of this book through Goodreads Giveaways -- and even more surprised to find a personal note inscribed from the author! Though I am have not typically sought essays and memoirs for my reading list, this short volume has inspired me to both read more essays and to think more about resuming my own writing.
The first essay didn't quite grab me... it had a bit of a funny twist at the end, so I kept going. The essays were introspective and thoughtful, often hopping off on tangents and then gracefully looping back to the original path to reconnect. Mostly, the stories are about things in normal day to day life - not any wild adventures, misfortunes of epic scale or high drama. Just normal stuff -- like the annoying noisy neighbor, or the thing you left on the stove too long which left a mark to remind you of your absentmindness for a long time.
A lot of the essays have to do with things and inanimate objects -- like the bag of clothes left by a sub-letter. The longest essay interweaves these themes and starts with the death of a beloved aunt -- and all the feelings, things, stories and memories attached to the process of dealing with her house and moving on. Some of the stories are very funny - but in a thoughtful and sometimes ironic way, but never mean-spirited.
The first essay didn't quite grab me... it had a bit of a funny twist at the end, so I kept going. The essays were introspective and thoughtful, often hopping off on tangents and then gracefully looping back to the original path to reconnect. Mostly, the stories are about things in normal day to day life - not any wild adventures, misfortunes of epic scale or high drama. Just normal stuff -- like the annoying noisy neighbor, or the thing you left on the stove too long which left a mark to remind you of your absentmindness for a long time.
A lot of the essays have to do with things and inanimate objects -- like the bag of clothes left by a sub-letter. The longest essay interweaves these themes and starts with the death of a beloved aunt -- and all the feelings, things, stories and memories attached to the process of dealing with her house and moving on. Some of the stories are very funny - but in a thoughtful and sometimes ironic way, but never mean-spirited.
karencarlson's review
4.0
I’ve been thinking a lot about things lately. And of course there was Marie Kondo all summer, telling us to throw away everything that doesn’t spark joy. Joy is good; I like joy as much as anyone, but I treasure many things for reasons other than sparks of joy.
Foreman’s essays in this collection show very nicely how things can carry essentials beyond joy.
The pieces also challenge our concept of thing. We tend to think of all that is as fitting into categories of either person, place, or thing. But in Foreman’s essays, a thing, like a bag of left-behind laundry, or a sculpture, might become a person. Or, person might become a thing, as with an art model. The boundaries can be more porous than we might think.
In every essay, no matter how far removed from my personal experience, I found something I strongly identified with. The margins are littered with exclamation points and scribblings of “yeah, I know!”. That’s where the overlaps between Foreman’s world and mine deepen: timidity, self-assurance, courage, loneliness, haplessness shading into learned helplessness, healing, and always, a sense of great significance in everyday things.
FMI see my blog post at A Just Recompense.
Foreman’s essays in this collection show very nicely how things can carry essentials beyond joy.
The pieces also challenge our concept of thing. We tend to think of all that is as fitting into categories of either person, place, or thing. But in Foreman’s essays, a thing, like a bag of left-behind laundry, or a sculpture, might become a person. Or, person might become a thing, as with an art model. The boundaries can be more porous than we might think.
In every essay, no matter how far removed from my personal experience, I found something I strongly identified with. The margins are littered with exclamation points and scribblings of “yeah, I know!”. That’s where the overlaps between Foreman’s world and mine deepen: timidity, self-assurance, courage, loneliness, haplessness shading into learned helplessness, healing, and always, a sense of great significance in everyday things.
FMI see my blog post at A Just Recompense.
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