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jgintrovertedreader's review against another edition
5.0
Alice (Joan) Steacy is a remarkable woman. Coming of age around the mid-'70s, she barely finished high school. It seems apparent that she has some sort of learning disability-- maybe dyslexia? At that point in time, the school system didn't bother to work with her and teach in a way that she could learn. She was just repeatedly held back and transferred to a trade school where she learned hair styling and floral arranging but nothing that really interested her. She manages to get a scholarship to an art school and her thirst for knowledge is wakened. With the full support and encouragement of her husband, she becomes almost a career student. She's always taking classes and reading books on wide-ranging subjects that interest her.
I usually rate books five stars if they rock my world or if I simply can't bring myself to put them down. That's not the case here. My rating reflects the subject matter. How frustrating it must be to have a sharp intellect but to be written off as "less than" because you think and approach things differently from other people. I can't imagine how that would feel. But I got a taste of it through Alice's eyes and I hope that makes me a better, more understanding, more supportive person.
I usually rate books five stars if they rock my world or if I simply can't bring myself to put them down. That's not the case here. My rating reflects the subject matter. How frustrating it must be to have a sharp intellect but to be written off as "less than" because you think and approach things differently from other people. I can't imagine how that would feel. But I got a taste of it through Alice's eyes and I hope that makes me a better, more understanding, more supportive person.
bushraboblai's review against another edition
5.0
So raw, but somehow manages to squeeze humour in? A wonderful portrayal of womanhood, motherhood, communication, and adversity.
glitterandtwang's review against another edition
4.0
This still has me thinking about it days later. Steacy challenges the idea of what it means to be "educated" in a traditional sense, and her recollections of her college and high school days managed to make me weirdly nostalgic for a time and place I never was. As an added bonus, her discussion of Marshall McLuhan really opened up some of his theories for me.
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