I know, I know. I’ve said it quite a few times over the past couple of years. But this time it’s true. My long-promised essay collection is coming out soon. One more examination copy to check for missed typos and minor errors, and then it will be available from Amazon and at local shops. Stay tuned!
Those of you who read this blog regularly will find some familiar pieces that began their life as blog posts. But there’s lots of new material, too. I shared an earlier draft of the collection with Erna Paris, author of Long Shadows: Truth, Lies and History, and regular columnist for the Globe and Mail. She had this to say:
Paula Dunning’s lovely essays distill the varied “stuff” of life into an enchanting memoir. With an eye for the telling detail, including a remarkable recollection of childhood perceptions; with masterful dialogue and vivid storytelling, Dunning explores what “stuff” can be pruned out of family attics without losing the ancestral continuities that link the generations. As for that other “stuff of life,” the stories that are the foundation of personal memory, she excavates these with precision, bringing her real-life characters to the page with vibrant clarity. Evocative and reflective, The Stuff of Life is literary non-fiction at its finest.
Okay. Maybe it’s hyperbole. But I’ll take it!
I was going to say almost the exact same thing as Angie. Sounds like the review is describing your writing to a “t”. Looking forward to getting a copy of this! Congratulations (and bravo for your dedication to get your writing written!).
Exciting! Looking forward to it! Congrats on the excellent review blurb. I think it is spot-on in describing your strengths as a writer.
So looking forward to the Stuff of Life.