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dianametzger's review against another edition
3.0
Honestly I was tempted to do 2 stars bc the stories are SO uneven and some are downright boring. But the good stories are REALLY good and her prose is beautiful.
perilous1's review against another edition
3.0
On the whole, his was a pretty erratic read. The author jumps around from memory to memory in her small-town Midwestern life without anything this reader could call a logical cohesion or progression. Half of the time, these short stories almost feel more like tangential modern poetry than memoir essays. The most gripping and memorable of these was, hands down, her memory of a horrific act of workplace violence that the author narrowly avoided.
While seeming somewhat unlikely, the author's recollections of her still-in-crib childhood motivations and impulsive thought processes are both amusing and endearing. (Though, I did wonder a bit at their significance to the work as a whole.) Much of the collection has a meandering feel that doesn't seem to resolve or intertwine with the rest. Which is, of course, the author's right in narrative non-fiction.
This reader's most prominent lack of connection over this book centered on the teenage and adult versions of the author. Beard has a detached, stoic sort of style, which translates well with scenes involving her younger self being high—yet, doesn't seem to provide insight into her mental inner-workings while sober. Readers who enjoy reading autobiographical works as a way of getting to know the author and their perspective more intimately may walk away from this collection with that particular desire unfulfilled.
sekulig's review against another edition
5.0
This is a marvelous collection. Poetic and ripe with details, a beautiful portrait of a life.
lindsayharmon's review against another edition
4.0
I was initially lukewarm about this collection of essays, many of which describe the author's 1960s childhood, the breakup of her marriage, or in a few cases both at once. But then I read "The Fourth State of Matter," in which she manages to combine the slow decline of her aging collie, the aforementioned separation from her husband, and the 1991 shootings by a disgruntled grad student in the U. of Iowa physics department, where Beard worked at the time. This essay is beautifully written and emotionally wrenching. I'd recommend this collection for it alone, but there were several more that took my breath away. I'll definitely be seeking out more of her work.
nssutton's review against another edition
3.0
On the whole, I wasn't into this one. In fact, it gave me a nightmare that my husband had cheated on me, and I had to explain it to all of my parents, and I carried a huge grudge against him for a whole day.
This is one of those reads that baffles me, as I know I love confessional personal essays, and yet this couldn't hold me. When I tracked down the path of how it found it's way to my reading queue, I realized that it was recommended by Libba Bray, who I also a heated reader's conflict with, in Publisher's Weekly. I probably would have liked this more during that spring of 2007, when I was reading a lot of Raymond Carver.
But I did enjoy the title story, The Fourth State of Matter, and Bulldozing the Baby.
This is one of those reads that baffles me, as I know I love confessional personal essays, and yet this couldn't hold me. When I tracked down the path of how it found it's way to my reading queue, I realized that it was recommended by Libba Bray, who I also a heated reader's conflict with, in Publisher's Weekly. I probably would have liked this more during that spring of 2007, when I was reading a lot of Raymond Carver.
But I did enjoy the title story, The Fourth State of Matter, and Bulldozing the Baby.
jenleah's review against another edition
4.0
4.5. Jo Ann Beard's memoir is a wonderful collection of short essays from her life. I knew nothing about this book before I read it, with the chapter titled "The Fourth State of Matter," being about Beard's personal experience with a university shooting in the 90's--I had to Google the incident for the full story.
Beard is an extremely gifted writer, with each essay she set a tone, mood, and feeling--all incredibly readable. She has the ability to describe a situation so fully that I swear I'm watching it unfold, rather than reading about it.
Beard is an extremely gifted writer, with each essay she set a tone, mood, and feeling--all incredibly readable. She has the ability to describe a situation so fully that I swear I'm watching it unfold, rather than reading about it.
ptrobes's review against another edition
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
2.75
This was an ok memoir. The beginning felt too whimsical to me and I had a hard time connecting but then eventually I did. Author does has a way with words and definitely makes you feel and see what was happening.
earlyandalone's review against another edition
5.0
This book is a master class in what beautiful essays can be and what they can make us feel.