Book Review - Tiny Beautiful Things by Cheryl Strayed

 I wrote a month ago about a  virtual author talk with Cheryl Strayed. She is such a nice personality, writer, and person. I just finished her latest book collection Tiny Beautiful Things and it was an eye-opening look into the struggles of people. Her reflections and responses were thought-provoking. 

back cover blurb -   Life can be hard: your lover cheats on you; you lose a family member; you can't pay the bills.  And it can be great: you've had the hottest sex of your life; you get that plum job; you muster the courage to write your novel. Sugar - the once anonymous online columnist at The Rumpus, now revealed as Cheryl Strayed - is the person thousands turned to for advice. 

In these columns, Sugar answers with humor, insight, compassion, and honesty. She truly put a lot of thought into answering people's questions. She calls them Sweet Pea and you can feel a verbal hug attached.  Oh, she's tough with some folks - she just doesn't want them to continue a failure path. Or, in her words, you can feel her tears and heartbreak for some folks and their impossible tasks ahead. 

inside  cover quotes: 

We are here to build the house.    

Acceptance is a small quiet room

Be brave enough to break your own heart

The only way out of a hole is to climb out

Every last one of us can do better than give up

Common sense?  Sure.  But reassuring and interesting as a great read. Absolutely - I know I walked away from Tiny Beautiful Things by Cheryl Strayed a better person.   

Cheryl Strayed - Author talk on Tiny Beautiful Things

 The Dallas Museum of Art presented a virtual author talk with Cheryl Strayed. It was a good forty five minutes. I've liked her writings and have followed her since her breakout Wild.  Now she's discussing her book Tiny Beautiful Things.

She was the longtime secret columnist "Sugar" for Rumpus, and changed the advice concept into small literary essays. I am currently reading the book and her answers to people's questions are little works of art, all while truly caring and trying to give good life advice on so many serious matters. 

In general her overall writing life moves between memoir and fiction.  She tries to relax and be herself. "It's never easy and never will be," she said in regard to writing.  Strayed "loves art - takes the risk."

She does not map out or plan what she'll write or say. She goes with the flow.  "Arts are central to the world and does make a difference. "

Cheryl Strayed is a very cool person and author. I enjoyed this virtual talk and would love to see her in person some day. 

Movie Review Madness: Wild

Here’s a winner – Wild, starring Reese Witherspoon.  She is very deserving of an Oscar nomination. I was a huge fan of Cheryl Strayed’s memoir Wild.  The movie is worthy of the book thanks to the Nick Hornsby screenplay and Reese’s acting. Cheryl is a mess – her beloved mother (played in flashback by a radiant Laura Dern) died, she cheated numerous times on her husband, and is now divorced. Alcohol, drugs – she has sunk to the depths. Now what?  

On a bit of a whim, she decides she’s going to walk the Pacific trail – from the far south desert near Mexico to Oregon. Just in Day 1, mile 5 her feet hurt, she’s almost dehydrated, and her boots are too small. Each day proves a challenge, but she perseveres. As she runs across a fox or a deer, she feels the spirit of her mother urging her on. Her journal features “I quit” almost every day, but she trudges on. Chance encounters with other hikers buoy her spirits. She learns about herself, her ability to survive, and appreciates nature.  

The movie is glorious, the scenery spectacular, and the journey of Cheryl Strayed digs deep into the human soul. Reese Witherspoon has always been a smart, spunky actress and this role is perfect for her. She grows in confidence, and you root for her to turn the corner, to know that she’s going to be okay at the end of the trail and beyond. Put on your hiking boots and get to the big screen. Life can be Wild.  

Book Review: Wild

Wild by Cheryl Strayed is a powerful, blazingly honest memoir: the story of an eleven hundred mile solo hike that broke down a young woman reeling from catastrophe - and built her back up again. (cover blurb)

Strayed's lost. Her mother died, she's barely making a living, she drinks too much, and she destroyed her marriage. Twenty-two years old and at rock bottom, she decides to hike the Pacific Great Trail from the Mojave Desert through California, Oregon, and end in Washington State. Against all odds, she forges ahead on a journey that maddened, strengthened, and ultimately healed her. (cover blurb)

Cheryl Strayed does not sugarcoat her life or this trip. She is brutally honest in her writing. Early in the book, I thought maybe she was a bit whiny and I didn't think I'd like her in person. However, she hooked me each step of the way and won me over. Wild is well written with humor and a down-to-earth reality check. You will meet interesting characters along the way, and the Pacific Trail itself is a character in Strayed's memoir.

Chapter 18 - Wet and miserable as it was, the forest was magical - Gothic in its green grandiosity, both luminous and dark, so lavish in its fecundity that it looked surreal, as if I were walking through a fairy tale rather than the actual world.
Join Cheryl Strayed in her Wild trek toward redemption and hope.