It. Goes. So. Fast.: The Year of No Do-Overs

(Hardback)

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Description

It's often said that Black women are magic, but what if they really are mythological Growing up as a Black girl in America, Deborah D.E.E.P. Mouton yearned for stories she could connect to-true ones, of course, but also fables and mythologies that could help explain both the world and her place in it. Greek and Roman myths felt as dusty and foreign as ancient ruins, and tales by Black authors were often rooted too far in the past, a continent away. Mouton's memoir is a praise song and an elegy for Black womanhood. She tells her own story while remixing myths and drawing on traditions from all over the world: mothers literally grow eyes in the backs of their heads, children dust the childhood off their bodies, and women come to love the wildness of the hair they once tried to tame. With a poet's gift for lyricism and poignancy, Mouton reflects on her childhood as the daughter of a preacher and a harsh but loving mother, living in the world as a Black woman whose love is all too often coupled with danger, and finally learning to be a mother to another Black girl in America. Of the moment yet timeless, playful but incendiary, Mouton has staked out new territory in the memoir form.

Reviews

"A book that will resonate with parents everywhere."
--USA Today

"Exceptional...illuminating reflections and engaging stories...Some of the best chapters take readers along on Kelly's news reporting adventures...making the book as at home in the journalism section as it is in literature and parenting and giving an already excellent title added appeal."
--Booklist (starred review)

"...she beautifully captures the chaos and pathos of parenting...Parents will cherish this."
--Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"It. Goes. So. Fast. is a moving and funny account of the deals we cut with ourselves: what we sacrifice, what we gain, and what we really want (which is everything). By holding up a mirror to her own choices, Mary Louise Kelly gives us tremendous insight into how we struggle to be true to ourselves and the people we love, and how we're never going to get it exactly right. This book is the voice of solidarity. It is a gift."
--Ann Patchett

"This compelling account of the divided heart of a dedicated journalist and devoted mother is tender and gritty and remarkably relevant."
--Hilma Wolitzer, Author of Today a Woman Went Mad in the Supermarket

"Mary Louise Kelly has written an achingly honest memoir that reflects the joys, regrets, pitfalls and triumphs of the modern working mother. Humor, heart, and humanity bounce off every. single. page. I felt like I was having a bottle (or two) of wine with a close friend whose balancing act very much resonated with mine--and probably yours too."
--Katie Couric

"A book for everyone who has to get through the sweet agony of raising children and letting them go. Kelly describes the interior shifts of this and other milestones with candor, vulnerability and wry humor."
--Katty Kay, BBC Correspondent and New York Times bestselling author of The Confidence Code

Author Bio

Mary Louise Kelly has been reporting for NPR for nearly two decades and is now cohost of All Things Considered. She has also written two suspense novels, Anonymous Sources and The Bullet, and is the author of articles and essays that have appeared in the New York Times, the Atlantic, the Washington Post, and the Wall Street Journal, among numerous other publications. A Georgia native, Kelly graduated from Harvard University with degrees in government and French language and literature and completed a master's degree in European studies at the University of Cambridge in England. She created and taught a graduate course on national security and journalism at Georgetown University. In addition to her NPR work, Kelly has served as a contributing editor at the Atlantic, moderating news-maker interviews at forums from Aspen to Abu Dhabi.