Daring: My Passages - Hardcover

Gail Sheehy

3.91

552 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0062291696 ISBN 13: 9780062291691

Publisher: William Morrow & Company, 2014

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The author of the classic New York Times bestseller Passages returns with her inspiring memoir--a chronicle of her trials and triumphs as a groundbreaking "girl" journalist in the 1960s, to iconic guide for women and men seeking to have it all, to one of the premier political profilers of modern times.

Candid, insightful, and powerful, Daring: My Passages is the story of the unconventional life of a writer who dared . . . to walk New York City streets with hookers and pimps to expose violent prostitution; to march with civil rights protesters in Northern Ireland as British paratroopers opened fire; to seek out Egypt's president Anwar Sadat when he was targeted for death after making peace with Israel.

Always on the cutting edge of social issues, Gail Sheehy reveals the obstacles and opportunities encountered when she dared to blaze a trail in a "man's world." Daring is also a beguiling love story of Sheehy's tempestuous romance with and eventual happy marriage to Clay Felker, the charismatic creator of New York magazine. As well, Sheehy recounts her audacious pursuit and intimate portraits of many twentieth-century leaders, including Hillary Clinton, Presidents George H. W. and George W. Bush, and the world-altering attraction between Margaret Thatcher and Mikhail Gorbachev.

Sheehy reflects on desire, ambition, and wanting it all--career, love, children, friends, social significance--and lays bare her major life passages: false starts and surprise successes, the shock of failures and inner crises; betrayal in a first marriage; life as a single mother; flings of an ardent, liberated young woman; her adoption of a second daughter from a refugee camp; marriage to the love of her life and their ensuing years of happiness, even in the shadow of illness.

Now stronger than ever, Sheehy speaks from hard-won experience to today's young women. Her fascinating, no-holds-barred story is a testament to guts, resilience, smarts, and daring, and offers a bold perspective on all of life's passages.

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Review:

"Here, she looks back on her remarkable life with unflinching candor."--O, the Oprah Magazine

""Daring" is an inspiring portrait of a resilient woman who fought hard to live an authentic life, and won."--More.com

"Daring by Gail Sheehy is the anecdotal life of a pioneering and hardworking journalist who plunges into everything with energy and curiosity. After a lifetime of writing about other people, she takes on the most difficult assignment - herself. It's an irresistible read."--Gloria Steinem

"Gail Sheehy's work always combines the care of a scholar and the sensibility of a novelist. Her memoir is a thrilling read."--Erica Jong, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Fear of Flying

"Ardent, approachable, forthright, and empathetic ... a riveting account of one woman's exhilarating trajectory, a page-turning, powerhouse testament to resilience, perseverance, and hope."--Booklist (starred review)

"[R]emarkable ... a fascinating narrative with Gail's voice, breathless and intense, as she tries to make sense of everything she's done--her work, her travels, her wild giddy adventures, her sometimes intensely painful experiences."--Vanity Fair

"Here, [Sheehy] looks back on her remarkable life with unflinching candor."--O, the Oprah Magazine

"Its familiarity captivates. ...The book is a thorough remembrance of [Sheehy's] life . . . her entire life. And she's had a big life." --East Hampton Star

"Sheehy gives readers a distinct glimpse into some of the most important events of the last 40 years, and, for many, this will be enough reason to read on. Her perspective on the women's movement and the decline of print journalism is especially compelling." --Library Journal

"The love story of two superstars in the final great moment of American magazine journalism." --Tom Wolfe, journalist & bestselling author

From the Back Cover:

The author of Passages, a book that changed millions of lives, now lays bare her own life passages in a captivating memoir that reveals her harrowing and ultimately triumphant path from groundbreaking 1960s "girl" journalist to fearless bestselling author who made a career of excavating cultural taboos--from sex, menopause, and midlife crisis to illness, caregiving, and death. Daring to blaze a trail in a "man's world," Gail Sheehy became one of the premier practitioners of New Journalism at the fledgling New York magazine, along with such stellar writers as Tom Wolfe, Gloria Steinem, and Jimmy Breslin. Sheehy dared to walk New York City's streets with hookers and pimps to expose violent prostitution; to march with civil rights protesters in Northern Ireland as British soldiers opened fire; to seek out Egypt's president Anwar Sadat when he was targeted for assassination after making peace with Israel; and to break the glass ceiling in a media world fueled by testosterone, competition, and grit.

Daring: My Passages is also the beguiling love story of Sheehy's tempestuous romance with Clay Felker, the charismatic creator of New York magazine and the mentor who inspired her to become a fearless journalist who won renown for her penetrating character portraits of world leaders, including Hillary Clinton, both Presidents Bush, British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, and Soviet premier Mikhail Gorbachev, among others.

Sheehy reflects on desire, ambition, and wanting it all--career, love, children, friends, social significance--and coming to terms with waiting until midlife to achieve it all. With candor and humor, she describes her early failures; the pain of betrayal in a first marriage; her struggles as a single mother; the flings of an ardent, liberated young woman; the vertigo of becoming an internationally bestselling author; her adoption of a second daughter from a refugee camp; the poignant account of Clay's decline; and her ongoing passion for life, work, and love.

Fascinating and no-holds-barred, Daring: My Passages is a testament to guts, resilience, and smarts, and offers a bold perspective on all of life's passages.

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