A Little More About Me [Paperback]

Pam Houston (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2000

The road I've taken these five years has been a long and twisted one, writes Pam Houston in the first piece of this stirring collection. That journey takes the acclaimed author of Cowboys Are My Weakness and Waltzing the Cat across five continents, through forty whitewater rivers, over three thousand miles of backcountry hiking trails, on more than four hundred planes. But whatever her destination -- the Alaskan outback or the mountains of Bhutan -- these are the starting points for her personal emotional journey.

Through her stories we meet some good dogs, a few good men, and the occasional grizzly. Ultimately, Houston's adventures -- and her clear-eyed reflections upon them -- prove what she has always suspected: fiction has nothing on real life.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

In Pam Houston's can't-put-down collection of essays, A Little More About Me, she describes her globe-trotting adventures spanning five continents with candor and humor, but it's the emotional journey that hits home. We travel vicariously as Houston treks through the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan or dozes while a pride of lions passes her Botswana campsite, but we're right there with her when she talks about her anger-filled childhood, her lifelong obsession with weight, and of course, a penchant for strong, silent types. Her willingness to put herself at risk is her way of coping with these insecurities--each victory on skis or in hiking boots a triumph over those nasty demons. A self-professed nature nut (this is a woman who owns her own horses), Houston is addicted to the next challenge (she's broken seven bones and has twice had search parties sent out for her). Through self-reflection and therapy, however, she's come to realize that saying no to a dangerous endeavor can be just as empowering as conquering any class V rapid. When she opts not to continue a particularly tricky climb in her essay "On (Not) Climbing the Grand Teton," she explains that "true success [lies] within the failure, in listening to my fear and standing firm in my desire to go back down." Houston's writing is straightforward and doesn't get mired in innuendo--she tells it like it is. And because she's not afraid to admit her fears and mistakes, we truly root for her to achieve the balance she's seeking. Though some might find it hard to empathize with someone whose concessions include drawing the line at camping out in 20-degree-below temperatures rather than 60-below, on a fundamental level we can relate. Our coping mechanisms might not be as detrimental to our health, but they are just as real. The powerful messages in A Little More About Me are well worth pondering. --Jill Fergus --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Library Journal

Houston (Cowboys Are My Weakness) has captured the essence of truly living and loving life in her latest work. This collection includes essays (six published here for the first time) written over a period of five years. For Houston this was a time filled with adventure. She traveled extensively through 43 countries on five continents, experiencing the emotional highs and lows of living dramatically face to face with nature. In "Powerhouse by the Brook," written about whitewater rafting in the Rockies, the reader experiences the pull of the rapids, "the water thundering around" and the "roar of the falls." Houston's bold and brash essays cannot completely hide her vulnerability and reflect her search for a balanced truth. Whether she writes about Tibet, Bolivia, or Pennsylvania's Poconos, Houston's essays share a common quest for artistic, spiritual, and emotional satisfaction. Recommended for all public libraries.
-ACynde Bloom Lahey, New Canaan Lib., CT
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Washington Square Press; 1st Thus printing edition (October 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743406338
• ISBN-13: 978-0743406338
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #345,262 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Something Missing, November 25, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: A Little More About Me (Hardcover)

I anxiously awaited the arrival of this book from the libray. I LOVED "Cowboys...." it had really touched me inside; I felt like the author really understood the types of experiences I have had in my life as an outdoors woman, and the men I have known. "A little bit about me" was a huge disapointment. It felt to me more like writing as therapy, or journal entries, than stories that I could connect to as I have in the past. She does mention doing some therapy, ( which is always a good thing) but I found something lacking in this book, perhaps a sense of something deeper than " I did this, I have done that..." Only in two places did I find the "Pam houston " I was looking for: There is a fabulaous paragrash in the introduction where she talks about NOT climbing the Grand Teton, and the dog stories. The dog stories are absolutely marvelous; it's worh checking this book out just for those bits.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A few good dogs..., January 11, 2001

By 

Molly M. Wolf (Havertown PA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Little More About Me (Paperback)

I am ashamed to say I had forgotten about Pam Houston.

I read "Cowboys Are My Weakness" back in '92 when it came out and then let this author fall out of my library, until recently when I stumbled (actually tripped in the bookstore) and into the table with this book on it.

What more can I say than... This book is wonderful! The prose is simple and elegant, the sentiment is raw and truthful, the stories are humorous and strike a chord in the soul.

Ms. Houston writes of her travels, revelations, dogs, men, landscape, body image in such a way that I was not able to put the book down. In fact, I found myself stealing into my office for any scrap of time to finish a chapter, a sentence, the entire book in a day.

My recommendation for "A Little More About Me": read it, own it, buy it for a friend!

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book took me adventuring and yet brought me home., October 17, 1999

By 

Suzanne LeBaron (Bodega Bay, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Little More About Me (Hardcover)

I have read, re-read, and often recommended Pam Houston's book "Cowboys Are My Weakness," so it was with a shudder of anticipation that I found her newest book "A Little More About Me" on the table at my local bookseller. Sure, this book is about her (for those other reviewers who missed the point...). But the book manages to be about her, and also about me, and countless other women as well. Through the course of rich and vivid descriptions of her adventures - essays that so often read like long poems - I realized that (once again) Houston is holding a mirror up to womankind and challenging us to recognize the quirks and patterns that have driven us throughout history. Houston's attraction to danger, her need to please men who prove to be inconsequential, her celebration of female friendship and fascination with the inner workings of the opposite sex, and her desire to detail every meal cooked and eaten at trail's end all feel familiar to me. I loved "In the Company of Fishermen". It made me wish I could be there, fishing alongside them. I read it out loud to my three-year-old son, who remained mesmerized to the end. I was glad to be able to give him a great story about men who remain friends, about a brave woman, and to show him that fishermen can be poets, and the reverse as well. Outside her adventures, Houston's writing is sprinkled with references to so many of my favorite things - movies, books, songs, and foods - that it makes it hard NOT to take her writing personally. To the reader looking for a simple adventure tale: Houston's self-disclosure will make you uncomfortable, guaranteed. Even though I'm interested in what makes Houston tick, I found myself a little unnerved by her descriptions of her childhood. This took the form of the sort of discomfort one feels when a co-worker tells you more than you need to know about their home life. I was stunned her find her chapter detailing her weight and body issues, and yet by the end I was as delighted as I would be if Self magazine called me up tomorrow to tell me I had the ideal body type for the new millennium and asked me to share my diet and exercise secrets (unlikely). So much of this rang true and hit home like a very pointed arrow. Parts of this book made me sorry for Houston and the things she has experienced, but I never felt pity, just the sort of sorry understanding one has for a friend who pulled the short straw and still persevered. At the end I wished I could meet Houston, spend some time with her, maybe drink a little tequila and invite her to help me climb Shasta on my 40th birthday. But realistically, I'm looking for a simple, smooth, safe climb with a great view - no search parties involved. I look forward to more of Houston's writing and will seek out her essays in periodicals as well. She manages to take me away from my own life (differenly colored than hers, and not nearly as dangerous) and still, somehow, bring me home. This was a colorful, introspective (okay, say it - self-indulgent) read that I really enjoyed. However, I suspect it is the sort of book an author only gets away with once.