Combining the insight of Anna Quindlen and the comic storytelling of Garrison Keillor with her own singularly outrageous humor a commentator on NPR s All Things Considered takes us on a tour of the minefield of chance and circumstance that make up a life. Winik s voice is so true and clear and compassionate we re happy to listen to any story she wants to tell. --Los Angeles Times Book Review Along the way she offers razor-sharp takes on everything from adolescence in suburban New Jersey ( Yes I wanted to be a wild teenage rebel but I wanted to do it with my parents blessing ) to hellish houseguests and bad-news boyfriends; from the joys of breastfeeding in public to the sometimes-salvation of motherhood. Candid passionate and breathtakingly funny Marion Winik maintains an unshaken belief that following one s heart is more important than following the rules--and a conviction that the secrets we try to hide often contain the deepest truths. A born iconoclast an aspiring artiste a feminist vegetarian prodigal daughter from early youth I considered myself destined to lead a startling life far outside the bounds of convention. I would be famous dangerous brilliant and relentlessly cool: a sort of cross between Emma Goldman Jack Kerouac and Georgia O Keeffe.... So where did this station wagon come from? --from Telling