The Moment, ed. by Larry Smith

File The Moment under "Worst Covers Ever, Ever". Personal opinion. Now that we've gotten that out of the way . . .

I had trouble putting this book down and read it in a single afternoon -- which is, in fact, a bit unusual for me. The Moment: Wild, Poignant, Life-Changing Stories from 125 Writers and Artists Famous and Obscure is a book of short (not 6-word, but never more than a handful of pages), biographical stories about life-changing, ephiphany-type moments. Some of them are a little obscured by flowery language or even a little baffling. Meaning: "In what way did this change your life?" -- I didn't always "get it". However, most of these little autobiographical vignettes are clearly, even beautifully, written and meaningful, many to the point of tear-jerker depth.

A handful of the stories are written in graphic/illustration form. I loved most of the illustrated moments for the change of pace, although I do wish the final illustrated tale had been left out completely. It's entitled, "I Couldn't Get it Up". That pretty much tells you all you need to know. So much for leaving The Moment out where youngsters can pick it up to find inspiration. On the basis of the final story, then, the book gets a family warning. Disappointing, because I do think inspiring stories can be encouraging to youngsters.

Recommended with family warning due to a single illustrated story -- which, I suppose, one can simply remove. Apart from that one itty-bitty problem, I think kids as young as 10 could get something out of The Moment. Well-written, diverse stories -- some humorous, others inspiring, a few moved me to tears.

©2012 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery and Babble or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.