Calling Home: Working-Class Women's Writings, by Janet Zandy

Calling Home: Working-Class Women's Writings by Janet Zandy
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

There are times when we could use a short piece of writing, whether an essay, short story, poem, what-have-you, something that one can finish in a short period of time before going on to the next short piece. Calling Home: Working-Class Women's Writings, edited by Janet Zandy, is close to as perfect a collection of short writings as can be found.

The introduction shows that this can be used as a classroom text, describing class (working-class, middle class, etc.), writing, the lives of working-class women, as well as working-class literature. Zandy explains that "the life experiences of working-class women are not affirmed or valued in the dominant culture, or considered fitting subjects for literature. This anthology looks at the lives of working-class women at the crossroads of their lived experiences and their imagined ones, those they might call home."

Zandy, a professor at the Rochester (NY) Institute of Technology for many years (now Professor Emerita), grew up in a working-class family, and experienced the feelings of not quite fitting in, once she'd earned her degrees and began teaching; editing a book of working-class writing is a good fit.

The book itself has writings in three major sections: Part One: Telling Stories; Part Two: Bearing Witness; and Part Three: Celebrating Solidarity. Each section has several subsections, with several essays, short stories, and poems dealing with working-class women.

The writers themselves are as varied as their writings: we're offered pieces by Sandra Cisneros, Dorthy Allison, Mother (Mary) Jones, Tillie Olsen, Agnes Smedley, Marge Piercy, and many more.

As far as anthologies go for under-valued writers, Janet Zandy 's Calling Home: Working-Class Women's Writings is well worth the read.

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Water For Elephants, by Sara Gruen

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Have you ever stumbled onto a book that you started reading, with no expectations of liking it, then finding out that it's a gem? For me, Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen is one of those books.

The book's narrator, Jacob Jankowski, is a 90 (or 93) year old man living in a nursing home, getting weekly visits from his children. The chapters dealing with the present - looking forward to a trip to the circus, discovering that his son has forgotten to visit and bring him to the circus, and his "escape" to see the circus - anchor the book as they are interspersed between his memories of his youth.

When studying for his finals to become a vet, he learns his parents have died. He skips out of his finals, and ends up joining a traveling circus, the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth. After working several jobs with the circus, he is hired on as the show's vet. He makes friends with several of the circus people, and eventually falls in love with Marlena, who is married to an abusive horse trainer with the circus. (Spoiler: Marlena and Jacob do end up together at the end of the book. How? You'll have to read it to find out.)

I really didn't have any expectations when I started the book. But the more I read of Water for Elephants, the more I wanted to read; it was the old "just one more chapter" situation.

The one down side (if it can be called that) is that there are two or three places that could be considered risque. But even then, they only last for a couple of paragraphs, and really don't detract from the story.

The punchline is that if you're looking for an engaging book that will keep you interested from start to finish, Sara Gruen's Water for Elephants is it. When I got to the last page - the last chapter was a bit of a surprise, but realistic - I was tempted to start the book again. Alas, it's a library book, so back it goes. Guess I'll have to buy my own copy!

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