Synopses & Reviews
A cross between Nora Ephron and David Sedaris, longtime NPR commentator Marion Winik has a way of looking at life thats both relatable and remarkable. Her experience of being single in middle age will strike a chord as her willingness to share her personal humiliations leaves readers shocked, awed, and laughing out loud.
Brimming with humor, Highs in the Low Fifties follows Winiks attempt to rebuild her world as a once-widowed, once-divorced single mom.With her signature optimism, resilience, and poor judgment, Winik dives into a series of ill-starred romantic experiences. Some are pathetic, some are sweet, and some are downright incredible. She gets propositioned (for money) by a sexy Salvadoran doing construction work on her basement, meets an emotionally unavailable dreamboat on Craigslist, and makes out with a former student. Winiks brand of single living is never lonely, never dull, and always a satisfying read. Her candor about her own mistakes and ability to find humor in the darkest moments has won her thousands of followers—and maybe a few voyeurs.
Review
“Marion Winik has led an unusual and adventurous life, and she writes about it with style and wit. Her essays are mind-blowing—you can't stop reading them.” —Jane Smiley
Review
“Marion Winik has led an unusual and adventurous life, and she writes about it with style and wit. Her essays are mind-blowing—you can't stop reading them.” —Jane Smiley“Highs in the Low Fifties is an intoxicating elixir born of an intellect that longs for chaos: Marion writing love letters to the Boston Strangler, Marion getting a hockey-puck nose job, Marion sitting out front of a bank at the wheel of a getaway car, and Marion heavily bandaged ‘serving the beef bourguignon as the Frito Bandito on Percodan.’ Romantics will gobble the intimate and maniacal sex and dating revelations while witless saps such as myself will eagerly turn one more page and say, my goodness, is this how women really think? No wonder I’ve been dumped so many times. Highs in the Low Fifties is like laughing gas at a car accident. Read it and weep, for if it doesn’t break your heart, it’ll crack you up.” —Poe Ballantine, author of Love and Terror on the Howling Plains of Nowhere
“Highs in the Low Fifties hits the bull’s eye—funny, sharp, poignant, wise. Sometimes, I think Marion Winik is simply selfless enough to live the life that most of us are too scared to try, then generously shares the results. Her latest memoir has her trademark candor and poetic cadences. But there’s something new here, too—happiness. Rueful, cautious, but happiness nonetheless. It’s like finding the Rough Planet Guide to Middle-Age.”—Laura Lippman, author of And When She Was Good
“Marion Winik works both sides of the street—light and dark, comedy and tragedy—and she does so with wit, verve, warmth, and hard-won wisdom. Reading this book was like sidling up to the best storyteller in your favorite bar.” —Daniel Smith, bestselling author of Monkey Mind: A Memoir of Anxiety
“Once again, Marion Winik brings us full throttle and no-holds-barred into her don’t-try-this-at-home life. Where the Sleepy’s truck runs over your mailbox, and that’s the least of your day’s whirlwind. Where your golf-bag-toting mother, Big Jane, may-she-rest-in-peace, drives a silver SUV and tells you, for heavens sake, look after the Calder when she dies. Where your dog Beau might just be the love of your life, but that doesn't mean everyone else doesn’t vie for your heart, or you for theirs. Passionate, a bit rueful, filled with love, and above all--funny. If this is life in your fifties, bring it on.” —Miriam Peskowitz, New York Times best-selling author of The Daring Book for Girls “Winik's new book, Highs in the Low Fifties: How I Stumbled Through the Joys of Single Living, follows her progress as a newly divorced middle-aged mother looking for love in the age of Match.com. It doesn't end with wedding bells and rice, but the book wouldn't be half as funny--or knowing--if it had.” --Newsday
“Fun, funny, touching and illuminating.” --Kirkus
“. . . Winik, who has become a popular NPR commentator as well as a well-known author of self-reflective ‘creative nonfiction,’ infuses her writing with enough wit and poignancy to keep readers entertained. . . . it’s hard not to keep on reading, in part because Winik is so thoroughly amusing about her travails.” —The Austin American-Statesman
Synopsis
A cross between Nora Ephron and David Sedaris, longtime NPR commentator Marion Winik has a way of looking at life that’s both relatable and remarkable. Her experience of being single in middle age will strike a chord as her willingness to share her personal humiliations leaves readers shocked, awed, and laughing out loud.
Synopsis
A cross between Nora Ephron and David Sedaris, longtime NPR commentator Marion Winik has a uniquely hilarious and relatable way of looking at life. Her stories of being single in middle age, marked by stylish writing and stunning candor, left readers bent double with laughter when they appeared in her column, rated "Best of Baltimore" by Baltimore Magazine.
Highs in the Low Fifties follows Winiks attempt to rebuild her world as a once-widowed, once-divorced single mom. With her signature optimism, resilience, and poor judgment, Winik dives into a series of ill-starred romantic experiences. Her clarity about her mistakes and ability to find humor in the darkest moments—in love, and in all parts of life—has won her a growing crowd of devoted followers . . . and a few voyeurs.
About the Author
Marion Winik is the author of six books of creative nonfiction, including Telling, First Comes Love, The Lunch-Box Chronicles, and The Glen Rock Book of the Dead, and two volumes of poetry. Her essays and book reviews have appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The Sun, Salon, More, and Newsday. Her commentaries for All Things Considered are collected at npr.org. She is a professor at the University of Baltimore. For more information, go to marionwinik.com.