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Mennonite in a Little Black Dress: A Memoir of Going Home (Paperback)
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1008846 |
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Item description for Mennonite in a Little Black Dress: A Memoir of Going Home by Rhoda Janzen...
"It is rare that I literally laugh out loud while I'm reading, but Janzen's voice---singular, deadpan, sharp-witted and honest---slayed me." ---Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love Not long after Rhoda Janzen turned forty, her world turned upside down. It was bad enough that her husband of fifteen years left her for Bob, a guy he met on Gay.com, but that same week a car accident left her injured. Needing a place to rest and pick up the pieces of her life, Rhoda packed her bags, crossed the country, and returned to her quirky Mennonite family's home, where she was welcomed back with open arms and offbeat advice. (Rhoda's good-natured mother suggested she get over her heartbreak by dating her first cousin---he owned a tractor, see.) Written with wry humor and huge personality---and tackling faith, love, family, and aging---Mennonite in a Little Black Dress is an immensely moving memoir of healing, certain to touch anyone who has ever had to look homeward in order to move ahead.
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Item Specifications...
Pages 272
ISBN 0805092250
ISBN-13 978-0805092257
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Availability 1936 units.
Availability accurate as of Sep 08, 2010 08:01.
Usually ships within one to two business days from La Vergne, TN.
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Reviews - What do customers think about Mennonite in a Little Black Dress: A Memoir of Going Home?
 | Entertaining, exasperated, loving Dec 21, 2009 |
Rhoda Janzen looks back on her life after suffering several difficulties find her at once. She has major surgery (with big complications), is in a significant car accident, and her husband leaves her for a guy he met on [...]. With all these trials coming so close together, Rhoda returns to her family and her roots. The book alternates between telling stories of her Mennonite youth (bug bombs set off in mini vans) to tales of her family once she returns to the fold as an adult (as she is now single, Rhoda's mother encourages Rhoda to consider Wally, Rhoda's first cousin, as an excellent marriage prospect).
It is refreshing to read such a hilarious, entertaining memoir. I find that many memoirs of very religious childhoods are either condescending and snide or overly adulating. This book (like another recent memoir, "I'm Perfect, You're Doomed: Tales from a Jehovah's Witness Upbringing") avoided those two pitfalls. While some other reviewers have found her uncharitable toward her parents, I disagree. Sure, she is at times exasperated (as I would guess most of us are with our parents at some point), but I never found it to be without a strong undercurrent of love. Her parents are painted as extremely frugal (reusing toothpicks! Saving fifty cents by purchasing a sandwich you dislike over a sandwich you like!), but also very kind. They are equally accepting of their daughters, who have ventured out greatly into the world, as of their sons, who have largely stayed within the Mennonite world. Her mother tells Rhoda that faith is less about rules followed than relationships nurtured.
My only complaint about this book is that at the beginning and then the end it has a couple of these annoying short questions with blanks like fake questionnaire's in a magazine. These just interrupt the flow of the story and add nothing. If they were part of the shtick and used throughout the book, that would at least be consistency, but as is they're just random and strange because there's only a couple. However, these are ditched fairly quickly (a good choice!) and you can just concentrate on a good story. | | |  | Well written and unusual, but ... Dec 21, 2009 |
I received this book in my book club's Christmas book exchange and looked forward to reading it to learn more about the Mennonites. I'm 67 and my age may have something to do with my reaction: I found the author's depiction of herself to be a superficial and unsympathetic young woman. I read lots of memoirs and this is probably the weirdest one I've ever read. As an English professor she writes very well. As a woman who puts appearances above all else, she seems so shallow. I can't believe that the next generation is all that shallow. Is that what my generation raised?
And how could anyone put up with that husband for 15 years??? I can't believe that she was that stupid! Her writing certainly demonstrates that she's not stupid. So, that leaves me with the question, Just how true is her story? If it's all true and some emotional problem compelled her to stay in her horrible marriage, she doesn't seem to have plumbed its depth, and that exploration may have made a better book. Perhaps that's the book she needs to write. Not that I'd want to read it. Been there, done that, myself. She surely has never read Mary Oliver's poem, The Journey. If she'd read that she'd have left him long before 15 years had passed. | | | | Very funny, nurses will love it! Dec 19, 2009 |
| After reading the New York Times Book Review of this book, I bought the Kindle edition and after getting into the book a bit, I thought it so funny that I bought the hard cover edition for my youngest daughter who is a Nurse-Anesthetist. Why? Because the authors mother is a nurse and the theme of nursing appears throughout the book and adds to its humor. The author isn't what I concieved of as a Mennonite and at the end of the book she provides a brief but enlightening description of Mennonites and how they differ from other Protestant sects. If you need an uplifting read, buy this book! | | |  | Real, honest, funny and unaffected Dec 12, 2009 |
| Funny, funny, funny. And then poignant, sad and ultimately full of life. Ms. Janzen is a terrific writer with a good story to tell and just the right amount of ironic distance from her own life. Anybody who was raised in a conservative religious household will identify with the hypocrisy and the happiness that is a part of those subcultures. She doesn't trash or vilify her parents or the culture of her youth. Instead, with a light touch she draws some conclusions about what was helpful and what was hurtful--but ultimately it is that community that helps heal her..wonderful stuff. | | | | Who says you can't go home... Dec 8, 2009 |
Rhoda Janzen is 40ish English professor. She is married to Nick, successful and happy. Well, at least she thought she was...
"Which is all to say that given the surprising events of the Year of the Pee Bag, I assumed I was safe from ill heath and trauma for decades. But no." "Two months after the move to the expensive lakefront property, Nick left me for a guy he'd met on[...]. (Yep - it's real)
So, with the [...] thing and some health issues, Janzen moves back to her parent's home to gather herself together. Janzen was brought up in the Mennonite church, but chose to not actively pursue the Mennonite life and faith as an adult. Her parents are very active in the church.
When she goes home,we are treated (and I say treated because this is one of the best memoirs I've read) to an intimate look at her family, friends, community and her childhood memories.
Janzen's voice is fresh and funny, witty, wry and warm. I can't remember the last time I laughed so much reading a book. Janzen puts it all out there - she is brutally honest in revealing the shortcomings in her marriage and her part in it. No subject is sacrosanct. Body functions, sex, friendships, family, community, religion, food - you name it. I enjoyed 'meeting' her family - especially her mother, who has a perpetual sunny outlook on life, no matter what. The descriptions of Mennonite life were fascinating.
Janzen's exploration of her life and her future, by calling on her past make for a riveting read. I absolutely loved it. A memoir you must read and then pass on to every one of your friends.
The publisher, Henry Holt, has lots of extras - photos, reading guide, audio and video as well. Oh and some Mennonite recipes too.
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