Still Writing by Dani Shapiro, a Book Review

An updated view of a book review I wrote from early in 2019. Seems like another era. Doesn’t it?

Pilgrim on a Long, Long Journey

StillWriting is both a writing textbook and a memoir. But though a text, it benefits from the lovely writing style of the author.

She says in her intro “…everything you need to know about life can be learned from a genuine and ongoing attempt to write.” The words certainly amplify the value of the writer’s work.

Writing is both her peace and her turmoil. She is driven to write but it is therapeutic. It is simple when she is in those transcendent moments but complex when she is not.

I like some humor interspersed amongst one’s serious writing. Anne Lamott does that. Dani Shapiro does not, at least in the now three memoirs I have read. However she writes so beautifully touching many chords in the reader that it is enriching to read her prose.

I recommend this book to even non-writers because Ms. Shapiro is a great storyteller…

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At Its Core

“It’s said the difference between one friend and none is infinity.” Ken Bruen. Who is Mr. Bruen, you ask? He is an Irish, crime fiction writer.

His line comes home to me in this fluctuating Pandemic. Here we think it’s coming to a close, and the wave heightens and crests, nothing beautiful, something awful.

In this Pandemic, in my eighth decade, my one, steady, live friend is my spouse. Sure, we have conflicts. Sure, we spout phrases we wish we had back. But what we do have is love, and what we don’t have is apathy.

As difficult as living in relative isolation can be, it would be far worse without her. Yes, we share difficulties, but we also share joy and laughter. Isn’t this at its core what God grants us in this life?