July 1, 2019
On an upbeat note comes this invitation from educator Manning (Where the Water Meets the Sand) for readers to write down their stories. Through our narratives, maintains the author, we can rediscover moments of happiness and joy as well as navigate more difficult encounters. Manning weaves pieces of her own story alongside prompts for readers to tell their tales, walking through the process with illuminating questions on the story's beginning, middle, and end, and spanning topics such as writing about a great love, a memorable meal, or affecting songs. VERDICT This thought-provoking title will stimulate readers to think and write about the experiences that have shaped their lives, while informing the direction for the path forward.
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June 15, 2019
A woman writes about her life experiences in order to cope with grief, addictions, and crises in this heartfelt memoir and self-help book. Manning (Where the Water Meets the Sand, 2016), a retired middle schoolteacher and school district superintendent, looks back on a lifetime of traumas, including the death of her father when she was 9 years old; a teenage pregnancy that ended in adoption; and the death of her first husband in the Vietnam War, which left her a single mother to an infant daughter. She also dealt with psychological problems, including alcoholism, bulimia, the urge to cut herself, and major depression. An eight-month hospitalization in a Topeka, Kansas, psychiatric clinic in 1970 got her started writing about her troubles as a form of therapy, which she recommends to readers. Each chapter covers autobiographical reminiscences loosely arranged by theme; some recount fraught episodes in her life and others revisit positive memories and influences, including mentors who've helped her, family meal traditions, favorite recipes, and memorable musical performances. At the end of each chapter, she suggests writing exercises that treat similar themes and offers a few literary tips to make them more detailed and immediate. Along the way, she mixes in recovery teachings about maintaining sobriety (reciting the serenity prayer is a daily ritual for her), cultivating a sense of gratitude, and taking life one day at a time. Although the book is a bit of a ramble and sometimes repeats itself, Manning is a fluent writer who stocks her narratives with vivid anecdotes and character sketches. In darker moments of morbid obsession, her prose is truly harrowing: "I remember the immediate relief as I watched the blood drip from my wrist into the toilet. I stared down into the bowl, hypnotized by the swirling pink clouds, and rested my head on the toilet seat, no longer feeling alone, panicked, or crazy." The book isn't very useful as a manual for writing, but Manning's creative explorations make her psychological insights feel hard-won and credible. A well-told saga of recovery from loss and emotional breakdown and a tribute to ordinary blessings that made it possible.
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