To Miriam Levine, "devotion" implies love and self-creation; to her mother's generation, it meant martyrdom and self-denial. The domain of this memoir is the interval between those attitudes. Devotion is the expression of a sensibility that trusts the physical - a facet of women's existence that is at once ennobling and primary, transcendent and spiritual. Affirming her deep connection to people Levine draws from a rich expanse of memories, misgivings, epiphanies, and associations to tell of the adventures and dangers of ...
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To Miriam Levine, "devotion" implies love and self-creation; to her mother's generation, it meant martyrdom and self-denial. The domain of this memoir is the interval between those attitudes. Devotion is the expression of a sensibility that trusts the physical - a facet of women's existence that is at once ennobling and primary, transcendent and spiritual. Affirming her deep connection to people Levine draws from a rich expanse of memories, misgivings, epiphanies, and associations to tell of the adventures and dangers of her emergence as a woman and a writer. Devotion begins with a series of anecdotal family portraits from the author's youth in postwar New Jersey. A stalker of secrets in the adult world, Levine eavesdropped and explored her way to precocity. She savored her work as a "spy, " but the rewards were sometimes painful - especially the revelation of her father's shame for his lack of education. Amid details of her working-class, Jewish-American background, Levine recalls such relatives as her Uncle Sam, who lived in exuberant defiance of the congenital syphilis that blinded him. In her grandmother Molly, Levine sensed unrealized artistry. A mother of six, homebound by tradition and necessity, Molly cooked and sewed with passion and brilliant precision. Formal learning sharpened Levine's sense of the world's ironies and multiplicities. Looking back to her days as a literature student at Boston University in the early 1960s, she writes of a gifted, influential professor - and of the compromises he thrust on his intelligent and educated wife. The course of Levine's own life during college ran counter to the romantic myths of womanhood: The promise of erotic pleasure, notemotional fulfillment, drew her to a debauched salesman who guided her, satyrlike, into the city's nightlife. Her involvement with another man led to an illegal abortion that almost killed her. In the final chapters, set in more recent years, Levine's daily concerns mingle with her sense
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Very Good in Very Good dust jacket. 241 pages, inscribed by the author on the half-title page, name in pencil on front endpaper.; 8vo; Signed by Author(s)
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Fine in Fine jacket. Book. Inscribed by Author Gold-stamped maroon cloth. Author's friendly presentation on half-title pg. Unblemished dust jacket. Looks unread. Solid. 4420 shelf.
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New. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 252 p. In Stock. 100% Money Back Guarantee. Brand New, Perfect Condition, allow 4-14 business days for standard shipping. To Alaska, Hawaii, U.S. protectorate, P.O. box, and APO/FPO addresses allow 4-28 business days for Standard shipping. No expedited shipping. All orders placed with expedited shipping will be cancelled. Over 3, 000, 000 happy customers.
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New. Brand New! Not Overstocks or Low Quality Book Club Editions! Direct From the Publisher! We're a small town bookstore that loves books and loves it's customers! Buy from US! Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 252 p.
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Seller's Description:
New. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 252 p. In Stock. 100% Money Back Guarantee. Brand New, Perfect Condition, allow 4-14 business days for standard shipping. To Alaska, Hawaii, U.S. protectorate, P.O. box, and APO/FPO addresses allow 4-28 business days for Standard shipping. No expedited shipping. All orders placed with expedited shipping will be cancelled. Over 3, 000, 000 happy customers.
