Falling Apart in One Piece: One Optimist's Journey Through the Hell of Divorce
(Libby/OverDrive eAudiobook)

Redbook editor-in-chief Morrison offers a gooey, reassuring, roll-with-the-punches account of how she soldiered bravely on after her husband declared abruptly that he wanted out of their nine-year marriage. When Chris, an aspiring film writer stuck in a dead-end job, blurted out that he was "done"-with her; with the Park Slope, Brooklyn, townhouse they had recently bought; and, most heartbreakingly, with their plans for the future including their nine-month-old son, Zack-Morrison was floored. While signs of Chris's growing emotional distance had been there, Morrison admits she was too distracted and eager to create a happy family to heed. Chris left to find himself, while Morrison got stuck cleaning up the mess, blaming herself for her unlovableness and going to astounding reaches to accommodate the wayward husband. However, the author is made of steely stuff, the product of a Southern controlling mother, and well versed in telling other women how to lead and love their lives through the many magazines she has directed. She buried her anger, found tremendous peace in self-direction, and presents her triumphant redefinition in fine form for editorial fodder. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Redbook editor-in-chief Morrison finds a bigger, more honest and balanced self amid the ruins of her marriage. The author had recently been fired from her magazine job, had an infant son and a house in Brooklyn when her husband sighed and pronounced, "I'm done with this." To his credit, he didn't bolt or have an affair, but stayed put until they ironed out the divorce processthough it would take a toll. In a firm, bell-clear voice, Morrison charts her passage from misery to redemption. It wasn't easy, and the story plays well on her confusioncircling, revisiting, contradictingreading like a tumult of self-recrimination. Hardly a shrinking violet, she lived at a somewhat cool remove, not trusting happiness. She worked too much; nothing was ever enough; she was volatile and dramatic: "The distance between my brain and my mouth is very, very short." Yet that brain is capacious and active, and Morrison emerges as a sympathetic character, overthinking, overwhelmed and not blind to the irony of "running a magazine all about women and love and marriage and stuffIsn't it rich?" There is plenty of unhappiness in these pagesnot self-indulgent, but revelatoryand it all leads to genuinely hard-won epiphanies that are gratifyingly modest and useful for readers in similar situationsdon't marinate in anger; beneath fear is solid ground; fix the immediate problems, often things happen "just because"; optimism and forgiveness work wonders. If her comparisons are sometimes unsettling"divorce is no virus; it's lung cancer"readers will get the drift. Candid and inspiring. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Dumped by her husband, Redbook editor in chief Morrison juggles job, baby, and a house that's falling apart. More in the divorce-as-enlightenment trend; should be big. Copyright 2009 Reed Business Information.

Redbook editor-in-chief Morrison offers a gooey, reassuring, roll-with-the-punches account of how she soldiered bravely on after her husband declared abruptly that he wanted out of their nine-year marriage. When Chris, an aspiring film writer stuck in a dead-end job, blurted out that he was "done"—with her; with the Park Slope, Brooklyn, townhouse they had recently bought; and, most heartbreakingly, with their plans for the future including their nine-month-old son, Zack—Morrison was floored. While signs of Chris's growing emotional distance had been there, Morrison admits she was too distracted and eager to create a happy family to heed. Chris left to find himself, while Morrison got stuck cleaning up the mess, blaming herself for her unlovableness and going to astounding reaches to accommodate the wayward husband. However, the author is made of steely stuff, the product of a Southern controlling mother, and well versed in telling other women how to lead and love their lives through the many magazines she has directed. She buried her anger, found tremendous peace in self-direction, and presents her triumphant redefinition in fine form for editorial fodder. (Mar.)