Customer Reviews

Songs of Myself: Episodes from the Edge of Adulthood

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Each memoir lends a different voice to the song of these student's lives. I learned so much about myself by reading about how each person bravely faced what could have destroyed them,but instead made them stronger in spirit. I was honored to have my painting in the book.

I submitted a the only painting that was published in the book(it opens the section on pregnancy) and i was honored to have my work surrounded by such honest and heartwrenching memories of my those in my generation. This book is truly unique in that it tells the story of people just reaching the threshold of adulthood, and how they reached that point.

Right when you start feeling nauseous from all the sugar-coated sentimentalism in the world, or cynical from the overbearing and stolid commercialism in many publications today, a book like "Songs of Myself" comes along and reminds you that yes, there are real people out there, with real problems, and learning real life lessons.

I picked up this collection of short memoirs on assignment for a college course in memoir writing, believing it to be another boring textbook. Instead, I found myself reading long into the night, unable to put it down, gripped with the reality of these stories.

The writers in "Episodes From the Edge of Adulthood" cannot be called children but are not your stereotypical teenagers. They are unique individuals with intense emotions. Whether they're dealing with unexpected early pregnancy, death of loved ones, life-threatening situations, or simply the first time living away from home, these writers tell their stories succinctly and with raw emotion. True, the writing is at times amaturish, but it is really the stories that grip you, that make you laugh out loud or literally cry in sympathy, pain, or horror. The fact that they really happened is what gives them their power.

I would strongly recommend this for any student of memoir looking for examples of their peers. I would also recommend this collection of stories for any teenager, or even adult, who desires to walk a while in the shoes of another - to realize the deep emotions of someone on the Edge of Adulthood.

Very insightful. This collection showed almost brutal honesty. A worthwhile read for all.