| 9780061710247 |
| (hardback) |
| 0061710245 |
Available:*
Library | Material Type | Call Number | Shelf Location | Status | Item Holds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Searching... Palmer Lake Library | Book | 305.2442 D221O | Nonfiction | Searching... Unknown | Searching... Unavailable |
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Summary
Summary
Combining the soul-baring insight of Wild, the profound wisdom of Shop Class as Soulcraft, and the adventurous spirit of Eat, Pray, Love: Lynn Darling's powerful, lyrical memoir of self-discovery, full of warmth and wry humor, Out of the Woods.
When her college-bound daughter leaves home, Lynn Darling, widowed over a decade earlier, finds herself alone--and utterly lost, with no idea of what she wants or even who she is. Searching for answers, she leaves New York for the solitary woods of Vermont. Removed from the familiar, cocooned in the natural world, her only companions a new dog and a compass, she hopes to develop a sense of direction--both in the woods and in her life.
Hiking unmapped trails, Darling meditates on the milestones of her past; as she adapts to her new surroundings, she uses the knowledge she's gained to chart her future. And when an unexpected setback nearly derails her newfound balance, she is able to draw upon her newfound skills to find her bearings and stay the course.
In revealing how one woman learned to navigate--literally and metaphorically--the uneven course of life, Out of the Woods is, in the words of Pulitzer-prize winning author Geraldine Brooks, "a marvelous book . . . both a compass and a manifesto for navigating the often-treacherous switchbacks of the second half of life."
Reviews (2)
Publisher's Weekly Review
In a radiant, brave memoir, Darling, a journalist and memoirist (Necessary Sins), recalls a difficult time shortly after her daughter goes off to college and Darling moves from New York City to the remote woods of Woodstock, Vt. A widow in her mid-'50s, Darling finds the woods around her small, eclectic house at the end of the road inviting yet frightening, and soon learns how "directionally challenged" she is-thus vulnerable. Having fled her life in the city out of a sense of failure and shame, she admits that she no longer knows what map of her life . She turns to a point by point "metaphysical" to-do list, including "get sense of direction; find authentic way to live; figure out how to be old; deal with sex; learn Latin." With her companion a yellow Lab puppy she named Henry, and occasionally help from wilderness experts-or a compass and a map-Darling embarks on a clarifying journey of self-navigation. Despite being sidetracked by cancer and a year of grueling treatments, which she endured largely alone, she gradually finds her moorings, emerging from this dark spell with a profound and grateful understanding of what it means to take responsibility for yourself. (Jan.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
The carefully constructed home Darling had created in her Manhattan apartment began to fall apart when her husband died. When their only child left for college, and the nest emptied completely, Darling knew she had to reinvent or rediscover herself lest she succumb to the cumulative grief of both events. She abandoned the verve and bustle of New York for the pervasive solitude of Vermont, buying a remote backwoods cabin that could only generously be called rustic. Darling discovers that what she doesn't know about rural life is nearly eclipsed by what she doesn't know about herself, yet her determination to learn not only how to live but how to survive is a project she embraces with a journalist's passion for truth and fact-finding. Along with unrelenting loneliness and unyielding Yankee stoicism, Darling also confronts her own mortality when she is diagnosed with breast cancer. Darling has written a fierce and forthright chronicle of one formidable woman's courageous journey of healing and revelation, gratitude and resilience.--Haggas, Carol Copyright 2010 Booklist
