If I Had My Life to Live Over
This companion volume to the award-winning anthology, When I Am an Old Woman I Shall Wear Purple, illuminates the experiences of women, young and old, reflecting on the choices they have made. In these stories and poems we see how women's alternatives are both extended and limited by personal belief systems, ethnic and cultural identity, class and economic status, age, and gender. Whether exploring significant public events or small private choices, these word portraits resonate with...
Search in google:
This companion volume to the award-winning anthology, When I Am an Old Woman I Shall Wear Purple, illuminates the experiences of women, young and old, reflecting on the choices they have made. In these stories and poems we see how women's alternatives are both extended and limited by personal belief systems, ethnic and cultural identity, class and economic status, age, and gender. Whether exploring significant public events or small private choices, these word portraits resonate with authenticity and meaning.Publishers WeeklyLacking the eccentricity and distinctiveness of its bestselling predecessor, When I Am an Old Woman I Shall Wear Purple (on women and aging), also edited by Martz, this new volume on the theme of the choices women make throughout their lives is simplistic at best. The language of most stories and poems here is uninventive and often cliched; themes are staid. ``A child is growing somewhere / in this weary world, / an innocent unwary / of emotions shattered,'' writes Shirley Vogler Meister in a sing-song, rhyming poem about adoption; and the narrator of Stephany Brown's story, whose boyfriend promptly enlisted in the Army when at 16 she told him she was pregnant, says that ``having his baby is still the best thing I ever did.'' Too many of these pieces have haunting echoes of a campaign for Family Values. Reading these pages, one would assume women no longer make choices other than having children vs. having an abortion, marriage vs. divorce, or which boy to date. A few excellent tidbits--Janice Levy's story about a Mexican woman entering the U.S. illegally and working as a maid or Pat Schneider's poem about a sister choosing to be a nun--are not enough to make this volume worth reading. 70,000 first printing. (Feb.)
ForewordIf I Had My Life to Live Over1Requiem2Loving Jerry3Small Life8Broken Vows10A Palsied Girl Goes to the Beach18The Keeper of Spaces21Adoption22The Sacrifice24Holy Places27Morning News37Getting Ready39Spiderplant43Life Support44Art As Life48Resume50Mother Land51A Woman's Choice52Maire, Who Feeds the Wild Cat?54Imaginary Bonds57The Scorpion Wore Pink Shoes58Good Intentions68Sunspots69On the Nature of Sin70The Woven Wall83White Horses84October Fire94One Last Time95It Is Enough107Five Years Later109Praying in the Dark110A Weaver111Orchards and Supermarkets112Divorce114Vietnam115Getting On with It116Cauliflower Beach117The first time I married127Good-Bye Prince Charming128Old Friend Sends a Chain Letter130Woman132The Choice133Bittersweet134Forbidden Lover135The Life I Didn't Live136Swamp137Amazing Grace147If I Could Begin Again161Shopping Expedition162Hot Flash167On Loving a Younger Man170Ripening171Eating Cantaloupe173The Woman with the Wild-Grown Hair174Strawberries175Old Women's Choices186Dearest Margaret187Shrinking Down190Keepsakes192Counterpoint198Salamanders199Advice to Beginners205
\ Publishers Weekly\ - Publisher's Weekly\ Lacking the eccentricity and distinctiveness of its bestselling predecessor, When I Am an Old Woman I Shall Wear Purple (on women and aging), also edited by Martz, this new volume on the theme of the choices women make throughout their lives is simplistic at best. The language of most stories and poems here is uninventive and often cliched; themes are staid. ``A child is growing somewhere / in this weary world, / an innocent unwary / of emotions shattered,'' writes Shirley Vogler Meister in a sing-song, rhyming poem about adoption; and the narrator of Stephany Brown's story, whose boyfriend promptly enlisted in the Army when at 16 she told him she was pregnant, says that ``having his baby is still the best thing I ever did.'' Too many of these pieces have haunting echoes of a campaign for Family Values. Reading these pages, one would assume women no longer make choices other than having children vs. having an abortion, marriage vs. divorce, or which boy to date. A few excellent tidbits--Janice Levy's story about a Mexican woman entering the U.S. illegally and working as a maid or Pat Schneider's poem about a sister choosing to be a nun--are not enough to make this volume worth reading. 70,000 first printing. (Feb.)\ \ \ \ \ Denise Perry DonavinThe editor of "When I Am an Old Woman I Shall Wear Purple" has pulled together another collection about the choices women make. In these essays, recollections, stories, and poetry by females of various ages, whining voices blend with mellower ones to share lessons learned and questions still unanswered. Topics range from wedding-day jitters to the recollection of a honeymoon; from summer vacations to terminal illness. As in the previous collection, the writing quality varies, but the result is still a rewarding medley.\ \ \ WomanSource Catalog & Review: Tools for Connecting the Community for WomenIn If I Had My Life to Live All Over I Would Pick More Daisies, women again join their voices to examine the decisions women everywhere make every day, decisions that rend the heart, split the mind–having a baby or an abortion; giving a child up; caring for an elderly parent, having a career or giving it up.\ —Phyllis Hyman\ \ \ \ \ Ruth MooseYou buy a copy of If I Had My Life to Live Over I Would Pick More Daisiesto give to a friend, because you have to share it and you can't bear to part with your own copy…And she buys a copy of the book for her friend and so the chain goes.\ —Ruth Moose,Encore Magazine\ \ \ \ \ Sara SandersonWe know these women. They are our neighbors, our friends, ourselves.\ —Sara Sanderson,Indianapolis News\ \
