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Sep 03, 2010

Jenny rated it:

A friend and writer that I greatly admire gave me this book as a gift, and it was a lovely gift--like receiving something delicate and beautiful and meaningful.

At first, I would open it randomly and read one of the short vignettes, and it was like savoring a small but rich piece of candy. Just a little tidbit; nothing that was meant to make sense in the grand scheme, but just to be appreciated for its own words, metaphors, and images.

Reading it as a whole was completely d More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 01, 2010

Patricia rated it:

I learned of Abigal Thomas after reading an article on nonlinear narrative in The Writer's Chronicle. The article interviewed four writers, two with whom I was familiar: Paul Lisicky and Bernard Cooper. I had an opportunity to study with these men in the MFA Program at Antioch University and appreciated their style. The interview made me think I would like Thomas too, so I ordered two of her books, including Safekeeping.

WOW!! I want this woman to be my teacher! In writing AND in life More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Jul 11, 2009

*Christie* rated it:

I loved this book. A beautiful look at part of one woman's life, the joys and sorrows that went with it in essay form that may as well been poetry for their loveliness. I wish that I had read this book before A Three Dog Life for a few reasons. 1. I liked this book more, but I think I would have liked A Three Dog Life more than I did (I already gave it 4 stars) had I known Abby's past. 2. I read this book knowing what happens to her and it was hard because in this book you could read the hop More...

3 comments like (2 people liked it)

Aug 07, 2009

Jenny rated it:

A friend and writer that I greatly admire gave me this book as a gift, and it was a lovely gift--like receiving something delicate and beautiful and meaningful.

At first, I would open it randomly and read one of the short vignettes, and it was like savoring a small but rich piece of candy. Just a little tidbit; nothing that was meant to make sense in the grand scheme, but just to be appreciated for its own words, metaphors, and images.

Reading it as a whole was completely More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 18, 2011

Jessie rated it:

Not sure how to rate this book--such a lovely, easy read (a terrific companion on a road trip through Alberta); the light, episodic 1-3 page chapters keep a wonderful pace, trimming a memoir's content down to distilled moments--I like the idea, the spareness, the switching back and forth between 1st/2nd/3rd person perspectives; and I like the informing relationship of her sister and her teaching-of-writing. Thomas's account of her three marriages, the mess of love, kept giving me this feeling o More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 11, 2011

Jane rated it:

I enjoyed this book but I had some mixed feelings about it. My usual 3 star books are solid stories but with nothing exceptional to warrent an additional star. This one was different. It was not the typical memoir, which is partly what I liked about it (it was original) but it was was also unfamiliar. From the title, I expected to read stories about her life, however it was even less than stories. I'd call them snippets of her life. Each snippet was sometimes as short as one paragraph or a More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 16, 2008

Ken rated it:

I read and reread this book because it has so much to teach about life and
about writing. Tuck this in your computer bag or travel case. It's ideal
for a dose of inspiration or reflection when you travel.

2 comments like (2 people liked it)

Mar 28, 2010

Jessica rated it:

Abigail Thomas, you saucy grandmother you. I want to dive into a swimming pool full of you.
This voice-driven memoir is the genre at its height - full of 4am moments wherein life's mundanities (opening a can of tuna fish) are sketched into art in a way that only the writing process can achieve. A carefully controlled and magnificently crafted voice emerges on the page, and blank space becomes just as important as text. Perhaps the highest compliment I can pay this is that it left me wa More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Aug 08, 2008

Mel rated it:

Abigail Thomas’ book, Safekeeping, took me by surprise. I was several chapters in before fully understanding her technique. “Several” chapters was the span of a mere seven, or maybe eight pages. And I’m not sure how I feel about it. The story does not come together as a whole, not really, until the end. It reads like a diary – a well crafted diary. Some chapters are less than a page, really just notes. Notes to a dead ex-husband.
It was interesting to me how Thomas wove her relationships in More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Mar 21, 2008

Josephine rated it:

My sister recently recommended Abigail Thomas' Safekeeping: Some True Stories from a Life as good airplane reading. When I first glanced through it, I admit, I groaned. The chapters are extremely short, the story jumps around with no chronological order, the viewpoint changes from third person to first person to second person with no warning. I thought, oh great, another too-cool-for-school, experimental memoir that's trying to be deep. Thanks, Anna.

Then I started reading.

More...

2 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 15, 2011

Lisa rated it:

Thomas's writing reminded me of Grace Paley's, which is a high compliment. She's of a different generation, but shares some of the subject matter--love relationships, children, the confusion of contemporary life--with Paley and some of the style as well. This story is told in short vignettes that at first seem random but eventually come together in a way that is revealing but not sensationalist. I think my favorite thing about it is how interesting she makes the ordinary. Taut and beautiful.

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 11, 2011

Michelle rated it:

I did not really care for this book. No one is really named and there is no clear timeline. It is a serious of short stories about her life. They are almost too short because you are never really given a clear picture of who she is. I do like her writing style and did like some of the short stories but I spent most of my time feeling lost and frustrated that I could not piece things together.

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Nov 25, 2011

Pam rated it:

This book is a keeper, to keep and to pick up and just read one chapter or two chapters; which in some cases is only one paragraph. The writer could probably tell a story in one sentence. Beautifully written. The story of life. Loved it!! QUOTE: "You died, and the past separated itself from me like a continent drifting away."

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 05, 2011

Molly rated it:

I read this in an afternoon, a quick read but so powerful. Ms. Thomas' writing is so descriptive. I highlighted certain passages, that I didn't want to forget, i.e. her description of a hug, simply beautiful. I had read her other book, "A Three Dog Life" which was written after Safekeeping. It is equally as powerful.

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 24, 2010

The Awdude rated it:

I tried, really tried, to like this book. There are some good moments, sure. Especially in the last few pages. But overall, i found this to be a pitifully self-indulgent excuse for self-awareness. Is this what being self-aware in America is? Of course it is. But it doesn't have to be.

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Jul 27, 2009

Jessica rated it:

This is written by my instructor from the Stonecoast Writers' Conference. The book is comprised of short pieces anywhere from one paragraph to a couple pages that are poignant, poetic and raw snippets of a life lived. It is a quick read but its themes are deeply human. It resonates viscerally.

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Oct 31, 2008

Dinah rated it:

Abigail Thomas is, quite simply, the bees knees. This memoir is simply written, an extremely speedy read, but a rewarding one. Thomas' understated take on the second wave ideal, that women should be telling the small stories of their lives as loudly and often as possible, ends up offering a compelling picture of a life played out through moments, not to mention a strong and unapologetic narrator who every girl can envy, or wish to have as a grandmother. Safekeeping is also cool because it comple More...

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Oct 28, 2011

Sonja rated it:

Someone suggested this book a year or so ago, and now that I've finally read it, I regret the year I waited. These 'snapshots' of life and memory are beautifully/painfully honest, and wise and recognizable as a result. Powerful and wise in the way the best writing is.

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Jun 05, 2010

Anika rated it:

This memoir is breathtakingly beautiful. Thomas reveals a complicated life in simple prose and expertly chosen detail. She gives us a portrait of a life through quick snapshots that seem candid, but actually are miniature masterpieces.

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Feb 15, 2010

sarah rated it:

She's a good writer, but swung back and forth from 1st person to 3rd, and the whole memoir is told in tiny snippets. I liked it better when she got older and seemed to be doing better. I don't recommend it.

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Jan 03, 2010

Zach rated it:

I have very rarely read memoirs, mostly because I have an assumption about them that they're artless, self-aggrandizement, easy. I'm sure many of them are. This one is not.

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Jan 02, 2010

Kathryn rated it:

Some true stories from a life...it felt like I'd written it with my sister. A style (short short chapters) much imitated but hard to actually do well. I think she nails it here.

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Nov 26, 2009

Patricia rated it:

Memoirs of a young woman's life....full of funny little stories. A good book to have in the car for those days you have to wait for construction to clear he roadway.

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Jan 16, 2012

Celeste rated it:

I like Thomas' second memoir a lot better, though this book was enchanting in its own way. Safekeeping consists of a series of extremely short, non-chronological vignettes from Thomas' life. Often it feels more like a book of prose-poetry than a memoir. Though the sections are out of order in time, I still found there to be a coherent narrative. I think you just have to go into the book expecting perspective and POV to be fractured. The book, too, was haunted by the fact that--having read her se More...

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Sep 16, 2010

Margaret rated it:

each of the short pieces is like a video snapshot from life, bringing in the information from the senses as well as the author's thoughts and feelings.

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Oct 26, 2009

*heartrl* rated it:

Fantastic, quite, minimal biography that remains bold and surprisingly intimate. I started out thinking it a bit pretentious but as I read on became amazed by the simplicity and beauty of the prose while maintaining a deep heartfelt intensity.
Beautiful.

2 comments like

Nov 26, 2010

Marydanielle rated it:

so very beautiful and true you'll stop reading trashy chick lit forever and devote yourself to real women of letters like abigail thomas

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Nov 26, 2008

Casey rated it:

All of Abby Thomas' staccato chapters give poetry, and an amazing story of a life. The journey is the reward of this book.

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Apr 01, 2008

Kristin rated it:

I read this b/c I loved her book "A Three Dog Life," but it wasn't as good. It was just little tidbits from her life and you had to piece them together to get the story, plus in every other one, she referred to herself in the third person and I found that annoying and sometimes confusing. I only kept reading it because I was on the train and had the time and just out of principle that I liked her later book so much. It was a really quick read, and I did find it impressive that she and More...

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Jun 29, 2009

Cassandra rated it:

This book told me that shaping a memoir might be possible. Her story is told in short pieces but they build and connect.

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