I loved this book for a couple reasons. First of all, Lawrence Sutin is a great writer - one of those guys that probably very few have ever heard of outside his home turf, which is primarily the twin cities. But the guy's been around, worked various jobs, got educated and read some of the great thinkers and thinks a few pretty deep thoughts of his own as he ponders things like reincarnation, the Dalai Lama, and the unexplainable mysteries of life. But I probably enjoyed most the short vignettes about his youth and young manhood wherein he speaks of baseball, dogs, friendships and the like. Best of all perhaps are his sometimes mirth-making meditations on fatherhood and step-fathering which he came to at a relatively late stage, in his thirties. For example, on his relationship with his two young stepdaughters he comments, "In matters of parenting, I try to imitate their mother. They've come to listen to me a little. I fart a lot and they think that's funny." Not quite what you'd expect from a guy who, not too many pages before, talked of "reading Evans-Wentz's translation from the Tibetan of the LIFE OF MILAREPA, the ascetic poet, illumined one of the Himalayas." So of course I laughed out loud. Because most guys never quite outgrow laughing at farts, perhaps not even the "illumined one."
And of course there are all these odd, cool old picture postcards on nearly every other page of the book, artifacts that acted as catalysts to Sutin's memories. Sutin confesses to being a compulsive collector of these cards.
The other reason I absolutely loved this book was for its physical beauty. Yeah, I'm a booklover, and books like this one make me nearly weak in the knees, with it's heavy glossy pages and its French fold cover, all beautifully designed by Jeanne Lee. While A POSTCARD MEMOIR is technically, I suppose, a paperback, it has all of the beauty and appeal of a very expensive coffee table book. I loved holding this book, feeling its weight and perfect smoothness. It was a tactile, voluptuous adventure for a true booklover like me. It's also a perfect example of why the whole idea of e-books makes me sad. Bookmaking can be an art, and A POSTCARD MEMOIR is a perfect example of that art. I loved Mr. Sutin's sly, funny wise memoir. But, nearly as much, I loved the way Graywolf Press put it all together. Bravo! - Tim Bazzett, author of the memoir BOOKLOVER
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