The Baltimore Book of the Dead
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WINNER OF THE 2019 TOWSON PRIZE FOR LITERATURE
When Cheryl Strayed was asked by
The
Boston Globe to name a book she
finds herself recommending time and
again, she chose
The Glen Rock Book
of the Dead. Now that beloved book
has a sequel,
The Baltimore Book of the
Dead, another collection of portraits of
the dead, their compressed narratives
weaving an unusual, richly populated
memoir.
Approaching mourning and memory with intimacy, humor, and an eye
for the idiosyncratic, the story starts
in the 1960s in Marion Winik’s native
New Jersey, moves through Austin,
Texas, and rural Pennsylvania, and
finally settles in her current home of
Baltimore.
Winik begins with a portrait of her
mother, the Alpha, introducing locales and language around
which other stories will orbit: the power of family, home,
and love; the pain of loss and the tenderness of nostalgia; the
backdrop of nature and public events. From there, she goes on
to create a highly personal panorama of the last half century of
American life. Joining the Alpha are the Man Who Could Take Off
His Thumb, the Babydaddy, the Warrior Poetess, El Suegro, and
the Thin White Duke, not to mention a miniature poodle and a
goldfish.
SELECTED PRESS
Best of 2018, PBS NewsHour, Newark Star-Ledger.
Top five gift books at Oprah.com.
Raves in Newsday, the Newark Star-Ledger.
Rave from a lit blogger in North Carolina.
Profile in Kirkus Reviews.
Ann Patchett's blog: A box of chocolates.
INTERVIEWS AND ESSAYS
Six minutes with Tom Hall of WYPR.
About being a widow, on WashPo TheLily.com.
About celebrity deaths, on NextTribe.com.
Interview by Jessica Anya Blau in Baltimore Style.
Interview on The Ish podcast.
Five Books of the Dead, on LitHub.
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