Perfectly Imperfect: a LIfe in Progress

Woodruff, Lee

ISBN 10: 0739382187 ISBN 13: 9780739382189

Publisher: Random House, 2009

Synopsis

“You can tell a woman’s whole life story from the possessions in her jewelry box. Like reading a palm, you can trace the points where her life has intersected with memorable events, people, places, and loves. You can speculate on the essence of her personality, all from what she has accumulated in that box.”—from Perfectly Imperfect

In her acclaimed first book, In an Instant, Lee Woodruff, along with her husband, ABC News anchor Bob Woodruff, wrote eloquently and honestly about the struggles they faced together as Bob recovered from a traumatic brain injury sustained in Iraq. Now, with the same candor and clarity, Lee Woodruff chronicles her life as wife, mother, daughter, sister, and friend.

Woodruff’s deeply personal and, at times, uproariously funny stories highlight such universal topics as family, marriage, friends, and how life never seems to go as planned. On raising teenagers: “Now with a boy and girl on the precipice of serious adolescence, the bathroom door is sealed tighter than a government nuclear testing ground.” On her changing body: “Over the last ten years my own knees had begun to form those dreaded smiley faces, sagging underneath.” How she copes with tragedy: “Swimming surrounds me in the velvet wet of a bluish green world where I can dive deep down and sob with no trace.” Even her sense of style: “I’ve always been more Leave It to Beaver than Sex in the City.”

In a voice that is fresh, irreverently funny, and irresistible, Lee Woodruff traces the quiet moments and memorable events that have shaped her life in progress. Perfectly Imperfect is the testimonial of a woman who embraces the chaos of her surroundings, discovers the splendor of life’s flaws, and accepts that perfection is as impossible to achieve as a spotless kitchen floor.
From the Hardcover edition.

About this title

Review

Lee Woodruff is a modern day truth-teller. She is a laugh-out-loud funny, complex, contradictory, compassionate sister in the struggles and sweet successes of contemporary motherhood, sisterhood and wife-dom. An immediately relatable group of recollections and reflections on the often unfair, unexpected and unbelievably beautiful paths of a woman s life. Jamie Lee Curtis
Nora Ephron + Erma Bombeck = Lee Woodruff. This is the book for all the women in your lives! Liz Smith, syndicated columnist
Reading Lee Woodruff s warm, joyful, heartfelt essays on everything from sagging knees to facing a child s disability is a little like staying up all night dishing with your best friend. You ll nod in agreement, laugh out loud, shed a few tears, and come away with a renewed appreciation for the magic of everyday moments, which Woodruff celebrates with her characteristic humor and grace in Perfectly Imperfect. Ann Pleshette Murphy, parenting contributor for ABC s Good Morning America and author of The 7 Stages of Motherhood
I want to snuggle up with a cup of tea and Lee Woodruff herself. Perfectly Imperfectis like having an old, dear friend who you haven t seen in awhile regale you with stories about life that you swear could be your own. This book will become my constant companion. Rita Wilson

From the Hardcover edition."

"Lee Woodruff is a modern day truth-teller. She is a laugh-out-loud funny, complex, contradictory, compassionate sister in the struggles and sweet successes of contemporary motherhood, sisterhood and wife-dom. An immediately relatable group of recollections and reflections on the often unfair, unexpected and unbelievably beautiful paths of a woman's life."--Jamie Lee Curtis

"Nora Ephron + Erma Bombeck = Lee Woodruff. This is the book for all the women in your lives!"--Liz Smith, syndicated columnist

"Reading Lee Woodruff's warm, joyful, heartfelt essays on everything from sagging knees to facing a child's disability is a little like staying up all night dishing with your best friend. You'll nod in agreement, laugh out loud, shed a few tears, and come away with a renewed appreciation for the magic of everyday moments, which Woodruff celebrates with her characteristic humor and grace in Perfectly Imperfect."--Ann Pleshette Murphy, parenting contributor for ABC's Good Morning America and author of The 7 Stages of Motherhood

"I want to snuggle up with a cup of tea and Lee Woodruff herself. Perfectly Imperfect is like having an old, dear friend who you haven't seen in awhile regale you with stories about life that you swear could be your own. This book will become my constant companion." --Rita Wilson

From the Hardcover edition.

About the Author

Lee Woodruff is the life and family contributor for ABC’s Good Morning America and a freelance writer. She is on the board of trustees of the Bob Woodruff Family Foundation (Remind.org), a nonprofit organization that provides critical resources and support to our nation’s injured service members, veterans, and their families. Lee Woodruff lives in Westchester County, New York, with her husband, ABC News anchor Bob Woodruff, and their four children.

About this edition

• Publisher: Random House
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0739382187
• ISBN 13: 9780739382189
• Binding: Audio CD