A Little More About Me - Softcover

Houston, Pam

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0743406338 ISBN 13: 9780743406338

Publisher: Atria Books, 2000

Synopsis

The road I've taken these five years has been a long and twisted one, writes Pam Houston in the first piece of this stirring collection. That journey takes the acclaimed author of Cowboys Are My Weakness and Waltzing the Cat across five continents, through forty whitewater rivers, over three thousand miles of backcountry hiking trails, on more than four hundred planes. But whatever her destination -- the Alaskan outback or the mountains of Bhutan -- these are the starting points for her personal emotional journey.
Through her stories we meet some good dogs, a few good men, and the occasional grizzly. Ultimately, Houston's adventures -- and her clear-eyed reflections upon them -- prove what she has always suspected: fiction has nothing on real life.

About this title

Review:

In Pam Houston's can't-put-down collection of essays, A Little More About Me, she describes her globe-trotting adventures spanning five continents with candor and humor, but it's the emotional journey that hits home. We travel vicariously as Houston treks through the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan or dozes while a pride of lions passes her Botswana campsite, but we're right there with her when she talks about her anger-filled childhood, her lifelong obsession with weight, and of course, a penchant for strong, silent types. Her willingness to put herself at risk is her way of coping with these insecurities--each victory on skis or in hiking boots a triumph over those nasty demons. A self-professed nature nut (this is a woman who owns her own horses), Houston is addicted to the next challenge (she's broken seven bones and has twice had search parties sent out for her). Through self-reflection and therapy, however, she's come to realize that saying no to a dangerous endeavor can be just as empowering as conquering any class V rapid. When she opts not to continue a particularly tricky climb in her essay "On (Not) Climbing the Grand Teton," she explains that "true success [lies] within the failure, in listening to my fear and standing firm in my desire to go back down." Houston's writing is straightforward and doesn't get mired in innuendo--she tells it like it is. And because she's not afraid to admit her fears and mistakes, we truly root for her to achieve the balance she's seeking. Though some might find it hard to empathize with someone whose concessions include drawing the line at camping out in 20-degree-below temperatures rather than 60-below, on a fundamental level we can relate. Our coping mechanisms might not be as detrimental to our health, but they are just as real. The powerful messages in A Little More About Me are well worth pondering. --Jill Fergus

About the Author:

Pam Houston is the author of two works of fiction, Cowboys Are My Weakness ( the 1993 winner of the Western States Book Award) and Waltzing the Cat. Her stories have been selected for Best American Short Stories (1990, 1999), Prize Stories: The O. Henry Awards (1999), and The Best American Short Stories of the Century (1999), as well as a Pushcart Prize. Houston is the editor of the anthology Women on Hunting, and has written the text for a book of photoghraphs called Men before 10 A.M.. She has been a contributing editor to Elle and Ski, writes regularly for Condé Nast Sports for Women, aand has been a guest on CBS-TV Sunday Morning with "Postcards from Colorado"

She lives at an altitude of 9,000 feet in southwestern Colorado.

About this edition

• Publisher: Atria Books
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0743406338
• ISBN 13: 9780743406338
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 304