A Step from Death: A Memoir (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781582434698)

Larry Woiwode's literary fame began with his first novel, the 1969 classic What I'm Going to Do, I Think, and continued unabated through his brilliant 2000 memoir What I Think I Did. In this deeply affecting follow-up to the latter, Woiwode addresses his son as heir to his emotional interior. With vibrant wordcraft and a poetic sensibility, Woiwode begins his story by relating a near-death experience with a malfunctioning hay baler -- the kind of mistake that can kill a novice farmer. This episode is the first skein in a rich tapestry of memories, from colorful snippets of Woiwode's time in New York as a young writer working with the late, great William Maxwell, to his days as a young father, husband, and teacher trying to scrape enough together to buy a ranch in western North Dakota, and finally to the prospect of an empty nest and the step from death that he finds rapidly approaching.

Author: Larry Woiwode
ISBN-10: 1582434697
ISBN-13: 9781582434698
Publisher: Catapult
Language: English
Published: 02/17/2009
Pages: 282
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.70lbs
Size: 7.90h x 5.20w x 0.90d

Review Citation(s):
New York Times Book Review 04/19/2009 pg. 24