Things I Should Have Told My Daughter: Lies, Lessons, and Love Affairs (Thorndike Press Large Print African American) - Hardcover

Cleage, Pearl

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1410469654 ISBN 13: 9781410469656

Publisher: Thorndike Pr, 2014

Synopsis

In this inspiring memoir, the award-winning playwright and bestselling author of "What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day" reminisces on the art of juggling marriage, motherhood, and politics while working to become a successful writer.
In addition to being one of the most popular living playwrights in America, Pearl Cleage is a bestselling author with an Oprah Book Club pick and multiple awards to her credit. But there was a time when such stellar success seemed like a dream. In this revelatory and deeply personal work, Cleage takes readers back to the 1970s and '80s, retracing her struggles to hone her craft amidst personal and professional tumult.
Though born and raised in Detroit, it was in Atlanta that Cleage encountered the forces that would most shape her experience. Married to Michael Lomax, now head of the United Negro College Fund, she worked with Maynard Jackson, Atlanta's first African-American mayor. "Lies, Lessons & Love Affairs" charts not only the political fights, but also the pull she began to feel to focus on her own passions, including writing--a pull that led her away from Lomax as she grappled with ideas of feminism and self-fulfillment. This fascinating memoir follows her journey from a columnist for a local weekly (bought by Larry Flynt) to a playwright and Hollywood script writer, an artist at the crossroads of culture and politics whose circle came to include luminaries like Richard Pryor, Avery Brooks, Phylicia Rashad, Shirley Franklin, and Jesse Jackson. By the time Oprah Winfrey picked "What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day" as a favorite, Cleage had long since arrived as a writer of renown.
In the tradition of greats like Susan Sontag, Joan Didion, and Nora Ephron, Cleage's self-portrait raises women's confessional writing to the level of great literature.

About this title

Review:

"An enjoyable, nonstop read. Familiar and profound. Pearl's memories feel like my own. Her lies, lessons and love affairs wash over me like water, sage and lavender. She makes me feel at home in her life."--Jasmine Guy

"From the moment I opened this book, I knew that I was reading an old friend who would inspire us with her 'flat-footed truths' and intellect. I knew her memory would intersect with mine in her walk toward Black womanhood and freedom. I laughed, cried, leaned back on my eyes and hummmmed."--Sonia Sanchez, poet and activist

"A juicy book. A fun book. Sometimes really sad. But always triumph. Pearl Cleage is at it again. Making us think and feel. Pour a glass of good red wine and indulge yourself. We, who knew it was there and knew it had to come out, need no excuse. We can just sit and turn page after wonderful page. Pearl, whether or not your kid needs it, we do. "Things I Should Have Told My Daughter "is another gem. I'm wearing it proud."--Nikki Giovanni, Chasing Utopia: A Hybrid

"Pearl Cleage is a truth teller, a soothsayer, and a brilliant storyteller. She tells it like it "is", like it "was", and like it "will be". Things I Never Told My Daughter" is an amazing account of Cleage's development as a woman, a mother, and an artist. This is real talk delivered without ego or pretense. This is the book I have been waiting for."--Tayari Jones, author of Silver Sparrow

"This rich, honest memoir is a gift to all daughters, all women, looking to make their way through life with joy, intelligence and panache. Thank you, Pearl Cleage, for sharing."--Tina McElroy Ansa, author of Ugly Ways and Taking After Mudear

"Sister Citizen Pearl Cleage opens up her treasure chest of wit, wisdom, and passion and offers us a lifeline through the late 20th century. In this brilliant, inspiring, memoir, [she] lives out loud and in living color. And before you know it, Sister Pearl has changed your world!"--Andrea Hairston, author of Redwood and Wildfire

"Pearl's courageous, candid recollections of the ups and downs of her life remind us of our human nature, at times, to doubt and judge ourselves too harshly. Her wit and authenticity allows us to look at our own lives with a bit of levity, compassion and freedom."--Valerie Jackson

"[Things I Should Have Told My Daughter"] shows an intelligent, resilient, remarkable woman bearing witness to the sometimes insane world of politics, to friendships, love, and American culture. Her reflections often made me laugh out loud. Cleage's journals are spellbinding!"--Deborah Santana

"A journal is the perfect place to watch one's self grow. Pearl Cleage's changes are many, in this gift of record keeping during the early, middle, and (a few glimpses at what may be) the later years of her life. The honesty and humor, insight, and determination to show up authentically, is pure Cleage."--Alice Walker

"Cleage gives a history lesson you didn't get in school."--Deborah Burton-Johnson, founder of Turning Pages Book Club

About the Author:

Pearl Cleage is the author of Mad at Miles: A Black Woman's Guide to Truth and Deals with the Devil and Other Reasons to Riot. An accomplished Playwright, she teaches playwriting at Spelman College, is a cofounder of the literary magazine Catalyst and writes a column for the Atlanta Tribune. Ms. Cleage lives in Atlanta with her husband. What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day...is her first novel.

About this edition

• Publisher: Thorndike Pr
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 1410469654
• ISBN 13: 9781410469656
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 523