This Day in the Life

Starred review from October 10, 2005
There is not one piece in this compilation that is not captivating. Following up on the editors' first collection of journal entries published in 2003, they selected 34 diaries out of 493 submissions written by a cross-section of American women on June 29, 2004. The collection's success rests on both the astonishing variety of participants and the sincerity with which they describe an ordinary day. Connie Linnell Ambrose-Gates, a 79-year-old who married her high school sweetheart when she was over 60, spends many hours attending to her husband, who is now on dialysis, and despite the physical and emotional toll, she is grateful for this very good day. Musician and songwriter Rosanne Cash, daughter of the late Johnny Cash, beautifully expresses the grief she will always feel over the loss of her father. A unique contribution comes from Laraine Harper, manager of a legal brothel outside Las Vegas, who details the minutiae of running a business and looking after her working girls in a responsible manner. African-American writer Crystal Wilkinson relates typical conflicts with her two teenage daughters as well as her ambivalence about moving from her Kentucky home to a new job in Indiana. These women communicate bravery, compassion, humor and perseverance in this compulsively readable volume.

November 1, 2005
In her previous work, the best-selling "Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation", Truss linked proper punctuation with respect for the English language. Now, she aims her wry wit at what she sees as the incivility of everyday life in the 21st century, as exemplified by the current expression, -Talk to the hand, coz the face ain't listening. - Truss examines the death of civil language, the transfer of customer service from those who serve the customers to the customers themselves, the refusal to live by any rules but one's own, the pervasiveness of profanity, the dismissal of criticism, and the universal lack of responsibility. Each examination is not merely an opportunity to rant but a thoughtful and well-researched effort to understand the behavior. Two of the most engaging (and surprising) discussions focus on the public use of cell phones and the increasingly knee-jerk use of a certain profanity, in all its variations. Although Truss makes use of some British expressions and celebrities, and indeed concentrates more on Britain than the United States, American readers can nevertheless appreciate her passion and irreverence. Highly recommended for public libraries, especially where "Eats, Shoots & Leaves "has been popular." -M.C. Duhig, Carnegie Lib. of Pittsburgh"

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