I have written about Alice Walker before. In case you don’t know, Alice is Rebecca Walker’s mother. As I read more and more by and of Alice Walker, I became more interested in her daughter, Rebecca. I then found that she is a published and well-respected author and activist in her own right. I have had her memoir, Black, White and Jewish, on my bedside table for some time but was afraid I would not have the time to finish. So I when I realized that she had edited collection of short essays from different authors writing about their own family life, I thought I could at least read one. Well, I am almost finished with One Big Happy Family. It has been a thought-provoking read. I recommend it to anyone who is interested in learning more about the great variance of family structures.
While I knew that a new collection of essays, The World Has Changed: Conversations with Alice Walker, was coming out in April, I learned this weekend that Alice has a book of poetry coming out in September 2010: Hard Times Require Furious Dancing.
Alice also has quite an informative website these days. Rebecca has one as well. Sadly–and while both are inspiring women–Rebecca and Alice have not had very good relations. If you have read both of their works, you would understand why I add this comment. When I read Alice and Rebecca, I do not admire them so much because I relate or agree with everything they say, what keeps me reading is the privilege of witnessing a woman’s development. Both of them are very adept at showing show how they work through life’s intricacies. And I think that this is what keeps me reading One Big Happy Family–I can witness and learn from so many different types of families dealing with life.
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