From Library Journal
While dying of cancer at the age of 59, Klein, a jewelry designer from New York City, decided to have the last word about the "moments of change and revelation" in her life, or "how I got to be me." This brassy, driven woman surely had her share of troubles and self-inflicted wounds. She grew up unattractive and neglected by her busy Jewish parents, left school to marry a doctor, had an affair, divorced and lost custody of her four sons, lived with an abusive lover?whom she reformed and eventually married?ran a jewelry store in Manhattan, was stricken with lymphoma, and, as a "final creative act," wrote her autobiography. In 40 vignettelike chapters, Klein offers unsentimental and often unflattering confessions, showing herself to be an irreverent, funny, tough woman who learned from her wrongheaded decisions, grew in self-acceptance, and was able to say good-bye celebrating her abrasive individuality. Appropriate for adult collections in metropolitan libraries.?Carol A. McAllister, Coll. of William & Mary, Williamsburg, Va.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
In this memoir, Klein recalls first her first-generation Jewish American parents and her father's millinery business, which supported the family through good times and a succession of maids until women's fashions changed abruptly in the mid-'50s and hats were out. She also details the oily piano teacher who sexually assaulted her as a child; being uprooted when in fifth grade to move to a more upscale neighborhood; her burgeoning sexuality and early boyfriends; and a notable freshman college year, when she "slid down the menorah into the melting pot." Graduating from the esteemed Parsons School of Design, she went on to create with her husband Savage Jewelry in Manhattan; to design innovative, thematic jewelry; and to teach at Parsons. She and her son discovered lumps in their necks the same week, but she outlived him and wrote this heartfelt book before her own death at 59 in 1995. Whitney Scott
