Sunday, January 08, 2012

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.

14 comments:

  1. This one's waiting for me to read and review it, so I'm glad to hear you liked it.

    I'm with you on the cover being pretty lame, though. It's such a bummer when a good book ends up with cover that doesn't do it justice... =/

    ReplyDelete
  2. Megan,

    I liked it a *lot*. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

    "Lame" is an apt descriptor for that cover.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I hope someone reads this blog post and reprints it with a different cover. I wouldn't read it randomly based on the cover. And even if I add it to my wish list, time will eventually go by and when I go to buy books I won't think 'oh, I want'...

    ReplyDelete
  4. Kelly,

    Well, you never know. It could happen. It's a pretty appalling cover -- way, way too easy to overlook.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Oh wow this sounds SO good!! I'm definitely adding this to my wishlist :) Love books like this. And yeah..that's an AWFUL cover, lol…looks like a cover to a bad motivational book, lol. And it's so busy!

    I got your gift Nancy :D You are SO freaking sweet!!! The little hand is going right into my office and I can't even tell you how bad I wanted that book :D :D SO SO SWEET! Love you!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Chris,

    Exactly -- the cover is way too busy and easy to misunderstand, as well. It does have that air of "crappy motivational book cover" about it. I hadn't thought of that, but it's definitely one I'd normally avoid. Good thing I just read the blurb and ignored the tiny cover image; I'd hate to have missed out on reading the book, although it just served to emphasize the fact that I've never had my own defining moment. Pffft.

    Wow, how did you get that parcel so fast? I just mailed it on Friday. It's a USPS miracle. LOL. You're welcome!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Also, love you right back. Stupid iPad wouldn't let me add to that comment.

    ReplyDelete
  8. This sounds like a good read. I'm adding it to my list- in spite of the frightful cover!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Censorship! Appalling! lol. I suppose you could rip out the offending page is you wanted to protect innocent eyes - bet they'd look up the book in the bookstore first thing.

    It does sound intriguing. Agree on Worst Cover Ever. (Time Was Soft There is a fabulous title.)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Jeane,

    I thought it was a great read. That cover . . . . ugh. I hope they change it at some point. :)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Happy I found your blog and agree with this post completely.... and it's not just because I am on page 171. :)

    Christine

    ReplyDelete
  12. Christine,

    Thanks; I'm glad you found my blog! If you're on page 171, you're either finished or on the verge. Glad you agree! :)

    ReplyDelete
  13. No, silly, I wrote page 171. And I'm reading all the rest now - can't put it down. :)

    ReplyDelete
  14. Oh! Well . . . of course you aren't biased. LOL It's impossible to put down. I tried and failed.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for visiting my blog! I use comment moderation because apparently my blog is a spam magnet. Don't worry. If you're not a robot, your comment will eventually show up and I will respond, with a few exceptions. If a comment smacks of advertising, contains a dubious link or is offensive, it will be deleted. I love to hear from real people! I'm a really chatty gal and I love your comments!