Marion Winik: Highs in the Low Fifties

Short E-books from Shebooks August in Paris The End of the World as We Know It Guesswork		Only for e-readers from Shebooks, a new e-publisher doing short books by women. Here's an interview I did about this new publishing model with Laura Fraser on The Nervous Breakdown, and a conversation with author Suzanne Paola at The Quivering Pen.
		August in Paris If you love David Sedaris, you’ll have to read Marion Winik’s anything-but-traditional tales of traveling with her cranky family in tow. From lost teenagers and missed connections to overpriced drinks and gambling mishaps, Winik — author of seven memoirs, and a Morning Edition commentator on NPR — illuminates the unexpected pleasures of journeying out of your comfort zone. Ranging from Paris to Peru, from New Orleans to Uganda to the Atlantis resort in the Bahamas, these travel essays are full of life, humor, and humanity. Whether or not you’re hitting the road solo or with loved ones trailing behind, you’ll want these on your e-reader before you set out. • Buy from Amazon • Buy from Shebooks • Buy audiobook from Audible • Listen to excerpt on Soundcloud Reviews: The San Francisco Chronicle review "Winiks writing has the bite, humor, and detail that make an essay come to life. The more stressed she gets in these tales of travel gone awry, the more I laugh." –Paula Derrow
		The End of the World as We Know It Winner of Child magazine's Book of the Year award for her hilarious and candid book on single motherhood, The Lunch-Box Chronicles, Marion Winik returns to the topic of parenting in these nine essays. Beginning with the story of her second wedding and her move to rural Pennsylvania, she covers everything from blending families and having a child in one's 40s to dealing with the legal problems of teenage boys to the evolution of the values of a family over generations. The central essay of the group, "The Story of Laurie," focuses on Winik's profound friendship with a mom she at first believes she has little in common with. As they get to know each other, she comes to understand just how wrong she was. • Buy from Amazon • Buy from Shebooks • Buy audiobook from Audible • Listen to excerpt on Soundcloud Reviews: "Reading Marion Winik is like having an all-night conversation with one of your smartest, most honest friends — the one who makes you laugh, tells the straight-up truth, and leaves you feeling hopeful in the face of everything life deals us." –Dawn Raffel
		Guesswork Memory and identity are the focus of this new collection, Guesswork, drawn from a column that has won "Best of Baltimore" from Baltimore magazine several years running. "The Things They Googled" looks at how search engines have changed our lives. "Love, Loss, and What I Cooked" takes autobiography to the kitchen. "What If You Were Right?" and "What If You Were Wrong?" highlight the way possibly incorrect interpretations of long-ago events subtly radiate through our lives over the years. These eight essays will inspire you to reconsider your own history and sense of self from new angles: how treasured places and objects fit in, how your life as a reader shapes who you are. • Buy from Amazon • Buy from Shebooks • Buy audiobook from Audible • Listen to excerpt on Soundcloud Reviews: "Whether Marion Winik is writing about compliments, googling or old break-ups, her voice pulls you in — intimate, energetic and filled with humor. Reading Guesswork is like sitting at the kitchen table, drinking a glass of wine with your best friend, telling secrets and laughing. I would follow this voice anywhere. –Micah Perks "I love the smart, disarming essays in this small collection. Have read 'The Things They Googled' aloud to anyone who'll listen." –Ona Gritz "Smart, funny, contemporary — this is a wonderful read. Winik takes on not just memory but love, loss, and how we keep on. I couldn't stop until I finished it — some of these pieces, like "The Things They Googled" — are instant classics. –Suzanne Paola "The What if You Right essay resonated with me. Not for the same reasons but I can relate to knowing in your heart that someone loves you but walks away for unknown reasons that plague you incessantly even through other more long lasting connections. And hoping that someday an explanation will be revealed." –Carol Brumer back to top

All content ©2009 Marion Winik

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