Synopses & Reviews
Nelson Gross led an outsized life—one in which he played many roles: father, brother, husband, politician, entrepreneur. When he was killed by a couple of teenagers in a botched abduction and robbery, the murder shook his family in predictable and terrible ways. For his daughter, Dinah Lenney, parent of her own young children, the loss sparked a self-reckoning that led to this book, which is both a meditation on grief and a coming-of-age story. By turns funny and sad, frustrating and fulfilling, her candid memoir conducts readers through marriage and divorce, blended and broken families—and, finally, the kinds of conflict that infect the best of us under even the best of circumstances. In the end, Lenney leaves us with the sense that in spite of extraordinary events—as with most families—it is mutual forgiveness and love that lead us to empathy, acceptance, and the will to carry on.
Review
“The subject matter is grim but the writing is anything but, as Lenney, with an artful layering of details and remembered conversations, brings her complex, confounding father back to literary life.”Los Angeles Magazine
Review
"The subject matter is grim but the writing is anything but, as Lenney, with an artful layering of details and remembered conversations, brings her complex, confounding father back to literary life."-Los Angeles Magazine(Los Angeles Magazine)
Review
“In one sense, [Lenneys] book can be seen as therapy, a way of purging a decades worth of inner turmoil. But the story also explores a broader issue, the way the death of one man can affect the lives of many people. . . . Not a typical ‘survivor's autobiography, but a deeply affecting one.”—Booklist Vanity Fair
Review
“A brilliant contribution to autobiographical, literary non-fiction; the author takes us right into her consciousness, and recreates thought and feelings with passion and restraint. This book is a model of engaged and engaging memoir-writing.”—Phillip Lopate, author of Portrait of My Body and The Art of the Personal Essay --Booklist
Review
"In one sense, [Lenney's] book can be seen as therapy, a way of purging a decade's worth of inner turmoil. But the story also explores a broader issue, the way the death of one man can affect the lives of many people. . . . Not a typical `survivors autobiography,' but a deeply affecting one."-Booklist(Booklist)
Review
"The subject matter is grim but the writing is anything but, as Lenney, with an artful layering of details and remembered conversations, brings her complex, confounding father back to literary life."-Los Angeles Magazine(Los Angeles Magazine)
Review
“Before his murder, Dinah Lenneys father was Bigger than Life but looms larger in death.”—Elissa Schappell, Vanity Fair Elissa Schappell
Review
“I read this in one sitting, transported into the life of a man I now feel I knew personally. It’s a compelling story about death and the way life goes on around it—beautifully written and perfectly orchestrated, a book that is as enlightening as it is easy to read.”—Susan Cheever, author of Home before Dark: A Biographical Memoir of John Cheever by His Daughter --Phillip Lopate
Review
“A driving vocal performance—tour de force momentum for pages at a stretch, and studded throughout with hard-earned human insight. While Lenney can be bracingly acerbic, the affection moving through this work is tidal.”—Sven Birkerts, author of The Gutenberg Elegies: The Fate of Reading in an Electronic Age --Susan Cheever
About the Author
Dinah Lenneys essays and reviews have appeared the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Ploughshares, Agni, Creative Nonfiction, Brevity, Kenyon Review Online, and elsewhere. She received a Special Mention for her work in the Water-Stone Review and the 2010 Pushcart Prize anthology. Lenney has a BA from Yale University and an MFA from the Bennington Writing Seminars, where she serves as a member of the core faculty. She also teaches in the Rainier Writing Workshop at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington, as well as in the Master of Professional Writing program at the University of Southern California. A working actor in theatre, film, and television, Lenney co-authored Acting for Young Actors and has guest-starred on numerous television shows. You can visit her websites at www.dinahlenney.com and http://college.usc.edu/thegamut/author/dinahlenney/