Synopses & Reviews
In his three previous memoirs, Floyd Skloot grappled with the brain-ravaging virus that struck him at forty-one. He was, as the San Francisco Chronicle noted, “shaping the experience of crippling illness into dazzling literature.” Sifting through memories and observations to discover how circumstance and nature conspired to make him the writer he is, Skloot enacts in this book the very process he describes, the shaping of a writers life. Among the influences of family and close friendship, experience and popular culture, he uncovers a unique and telling perspective on the forging of a writers individual sensibility. At the same time, his book explores fundamental questions about how life shapes the creative spirit—and how, in turn, the writer makes sense of it all and gives life a new and meaningful shape in the form of literature.
Review
"A full-color portrait of Skloot's boyhood that rings with authenticity."—Jenny Shank, New West Penny Allen - OregonLive.com
Review
“Skloot is such a fine writer that he can—and does—write about eating ‘baloney and eggs and makes it seem fascinating. Writers at any stage of their careers will treasure this volume of clean, expressive prose that delights without ever showing off.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review Publishers Weekly
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“Wise, thoughtful.”—
Booklist
ForeWord Magazine
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"Skloot is such a fine writer that he can-and does-write about eating "baloney and eggs" and makes it seem fascinating. Writers at any stage of their careers will treasure this volume of clean, expressive prose that delights without ever showing off."-Publishers Weekly, Starred Review
Review
"Its impossible to know whether, with this volume, Skloot finally has reassembled all the shards of memory scattered by his illness. If it is, we can be grateful for the hard and sometimes painful work it took to gather them and share them in such an eloquent and affecting form."Harvey Freedenberg,
Shelf Awareness -- Deborah Donovan - Booklist
Review
"A full-color portrait of Skloots boyhood that rings with authenticity."-Jenny Shank, New West
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"Skloots newest is wise, thoughtful, and generally humorous."Deborah Donovan, Booklist
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“Skloot unravels the tangled thread of his own life story with a sense of urgency often missing from linear memoir; and in so doing, he shows us that while truth and fact may be intimately connected, meaning itself is in the telling.”—Courtney Arnold, ForeWord Magazine Courtney Arnold
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“A book to be savored, not gulped down but tasted, essay by essay, allowing time to be amazed at how Skloots insights beam directly into our souls.”—Penny Allen, OregonLive.com Harvey Freedenberg - Shelf Awareness
Review
“Even better than the tales is the pitch in which Skloot sings them. His sensibility is stoic and gentle. The style is clear, supple, expressive, and, one cant help but get the feeling, wise as well.”—Mordechai Levy-Eichel, New Haven Review come his way."—Mordechai Levy-Eichel, New Haven Review Jenny Shank - New West
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“Eloquent and affecting”—Harvey Freedenberg, Shelf Awareness Deborah Donovan - Booklist
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“Remarkable portrait of a remarkable artist.”—Askold Melnyczuk, Boston Globe ForeWord Magazine
About the Author
Floyd Skloot is the author of four novels, most recently Patient 002; six collections of poetry, including The End of Dreams; a collection of essays; and three previous memoirs. He is the winner of three Pushcart Prizes, the most recent for his essay, “The Voice of the Past,” which appears in The Wink of the Zenith. His memoir In the Shadow of Memory (available in a Bison Books edition) was named a Best of 2003 nonfiction title by the Chicago Tribune and was a 2003 Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Award nonfiction finalist. His memoir A World of Light (Nebraska 2005) was a New York Times Book Review Editors Choice selection for 2005.