For Annie Spiegelman, motherhood is a full-time job. The hours are long, the pay is lousy, and the recognition is almost nil. Then, during her son’s second year, her mother, with whom she has always had a tempestuous relationship, becomes ill. In this wonderfully wry and touching collection of journal entries written to her son, Spiegelman chronicles her insights, insecurities, joy, and confusion about family and parenthood. While her son is going on his second, hell-raising year and her mother’s illness is making her increasingly dependent, Annie also deals with the surprising difficulty of becoming a Master Gardener and her changing relationship with her husband. Finally, Growing Seasons is a celebration of family in all its comfort and complexity.
Raised in the asphalt jungle of New York City, with a can of Raid in her hand, Annie Spiegelman moved to the Bay Area over ten years ago and became a passionate environmentalist and Master Gardener. She is the author of two previous books on gardening (and life). ANNIE'S GARDEN JOURNAL: Some Thoughts on Roses, Life, Weeds, and Men and GROWING SEASONS: Half-baked Garden Tips, Cheap Advice on Marriage and Questionable Theories on Motherhood.
Her third book entitled TALKING DIRT (Penguin Group), an organic gardening how-to guide, will be in bookstores nationally on February 23, 2010.
Readers can visit her website at www.dirtdiva.com
Spiegelman writes a popular organic gardening column entitled 'Dirt Diva' in the Bay Area's Pacific Sun newspaper while also working in film production as a First Assistant Director.
She claims she spends her days dodging bullets from the cutthroat publishing business, the maniacal movie industry and her teenage son. And rarely uses medication.
