Verwandte Artikel zu Not by Accident: Reconstructing a Careless Life

Not by Accident: Reconstructing a Careless Life - Hardcover

Dunn, Samantha

 
9780805065855: Not by Accident: Reconstructing a Careless Life
Hardcover
ISBN 10: 0805065857 ISBN 13: 9780805065855
Verlag: Henry Holt and Co., 2002

Inhaltsangabe

A nearly fatal riding accident forces a young woman to examine just what it is inside herself-and other people-that invites carelessness and injury.

"God touches us with a feather to get our attention. Then, if we don't listen, he starts throwing bricks."

While leading her horse across a narrow creek in the canyons of California, Samantha Dunn suffered a life-threatening accident as her horse inadvertently jumped on her leg, splitting it open and severing vital muscles and veins. Had a stranger not happened upon the scene, it's doubtful she would have survived.

This wasn't the first such incident-although it was the most serious-in a life filled with carelessness, risk-taking, and injuries. In this reflective yet humorous memoir, Dunn takes the reader through the stages of her long and painful recovery, the most important of which involved serious self-examination. A pattern of accidents, she learned, indicates other deeper issues bubbling below the surface. This last, near-fatal episode was a subconscious wake-up call to pay attention to everything she had been looking away from: her horse, who had shown clear signs of panic, and especially her complicated past and home life-including her seriously troubled marriage.

Dunn got back on the horse-literally and figuratively. How she did it makes for an entertaining, touching, and insightful book, memoir at its best.

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Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Samantha Dunn was raised in northern New Mexico and spent years in Australia and France. Her novel Failing Paris was nominated for the PEN/West award. She lives in southern California.

Rezensionen

Dunn lived for the feeling of wind blowing in her hair and the powerful intoxication of her horse's steady gallop. A tug of Harley's leathery reins could instantly eradicate mounting bills, unfinished work, and the reality of a troubled marriage from her mind. On a fateful ride into California's picturesque canyons, Samantha dismounted to lead her reluctant horse across a stream when Harley's knee knocked her to the ground and his hoofs mangled her body as he reared back and forth in a state of heightened panic. With her leg nearly detached in the accident and a grueling recuperation process ahead of her, Dunn analyzes the details of her life and her propensity for accidents. Could there be some underlying emotional reason she was always putting her life in danger, or was she just accident-prone? Despite her memoir's painful subject matter, Dunn never loses her delightful sense of humor as she fearlessly probes the inner workings of her mind. An inspirational lesson in hope and conviction in the face of adversity. Elsa Gaztambide
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

These two engaging memoirs by California freelance journalists demonstrate how lives, family, and friends change after serious accidents. Thrown and trampled by her horse, Dunn (Failing Paris) survived with a badly fractured leg requiring extensive reconstructive surgery and the threat of future infection and amputation. As she convalesces, she candidly reviews her life and reflects on what it means to be accident-prone. Is this calamity not the first, but the most serious just a coincidence, or does it indicate something deeper that needs to be examined? Barely able to walk again, she takes up yoga, explores complementary therapies, and embarks on a path of emotional and physical healing. Dunn concludes that her accidents were an unconscious message telling her that she did not care enough about herself and her future. She returns to writing, divorces her husband, gets back on her horse (literally), and survives a second fall. Both active sports enthusiasts, Parker and her retired scientist-husband, Ralph, were planning to move to Colorado when he was knocked off his bicycle and paralyzed from the neck down. In a series of short essays that first appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle and other publications, Parker candidly relates the fears and frustrations of learning to be a primary caregiver for a quadriplegic. Friends desert her, but colorful Momma Scott and her African American neighbors step in to lend emotional support. Two live-in personal attendants, an ex-con, and a Tibetan immigrant form an unconventional household centered on caring for Ralph and for one another. With humor, Parker spares no details describing the personal routines; the clashes of class, culture, and caregiving; and her delights in new friends and small pleasures. Both books are recommended for public libraries. Lucille M. Boone, San Jose P.L., CA
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Verlag
Henry Holt and Co.
Erscheinungsdatum
2002
Sprache
Englisch
ISBN 10 
0805065857
ISBN 13 
9780805065855
Einband
Gebundene Ausgabe
Auflage
1
Anzahl der Seiten
256
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