Loud and Clear: Summary and book reviews of Loud and Clear by Anna Quindlen, plus links to an excerpt from Loud and Clear and a biography of Anna Quindlen.
Loud and Clear
by Anna Quindlen
Hardcover: Apr 2004,
320 pages.
Paperback: Mar 2005,
320 pages.
In this remarkable book, Anna Quindlen, one of America's favorite novelists and a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist, once again gives us wisdom, opinions, insights, and reflections about current events and modern life. "Always insightful, rooted in everyday experience and common sense...Quindlen is so good that even when you disagree with what she says, you still love the way she says it," said People magazine about her number one New York Times bestseller Thinking Out Loud, and the same can be said about Loud and Clear.
With her trademark insight and her special ability to convey the impact public events have on ordinary lives, Quindlen here combines commentary on American society and the world at large with reflections on being a woman, a writer, and a mother. In these pieces, first written for Newsweek and The New York Times, Loud and Clear takes on topics ranging from social change to raising children, from the political and emotional aftermath of September 11 to personal values, from the impact on individuals of global events to the growth that can be gained by spending summer days staring into the middle distance. Grounding the public in the private, connecting people to each other and to the greater world, Quindlen encourages us to develop authentic lives, even as she serves as a catalyst for political and social change.
"Anna Quindlen's beat is life, and she's one hell of a terrific reporter," said Susan Isaacs, and Quindlen's unique qualities of understanding and discernment, everywhere evident in her previous bestsellers, including A Short Guide to a Happy Life and Living Out Loud, can be found on every page of this provocative and inspiring book.
You don't have to always agree with Quindlen to appreciate this series of essays culled from her regular Newsweek articles. Subjects covered include youth culture, gun control, over scheduled children, homeless children, personalities and politics, women's health issues, Barbie and, of course, the current political situation. (Reviewed by BookBrowse Review Team).
Booklist - Donna Seaman
A valiant writer who addresses every aspect of our lives with both gravitas and humor, Quindlen is a tonic for mind and soul.
Publishers Weekly
Quindlen divides the essays by theme—heart, mind, soul, voice and body—and while the individual pieces shine, the overviews of each topic provide thin explanations for why they are grouped this way. Overall, however, this is not a matter of great concern. Quindlen's columns speak for themselves, loud and clear.
Anna Quindlen is the author of four novels (Blessings,
Black and
Blue, One
True Thing, and Object Lessons) and at least six nonfiction books
including
A Short Guide
to a Happy Life. She has also written two children's books
(The Tree
That Came to Stay and Happily Ever After). Her New York Times column,
"Public and Private" won the Pulitzer Prize in 1992. Her
column now appears every other week in Newsweek.
Some Quindlen quotes:
~ A finished person is a boring person.
~ A man who builds his own pedestal had better use strong cement.
~ The thing that is really hard, and really amazing, is giving up on being
perfect and beginning the work of becoming yourself.
Coming Soon: Being Perfect (April 2005): "At the core of this beautiful book lies the secret of authentic success,
the inspiration to embrace your own...
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