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39th out of 141 books
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The Possibility of Everything
by
Hope Edelman (Goodreads Author)
From the bestselling author of Motherless Daughters, here is the real-life story of one woman's search for a cure to her family's escalating troubles, and the leap of faith that took her on a journey to an exotic place and a new state of mind.
In the autumn of 2000, Hope Edelman was a woman adrift, questioning her marriage, her profession, and her place in the larger world....more
In the autumn of 2000, Hope Edelman was a woman adrift, questioning her marriage, her profession, and her place in the larger world....more
Hardcover, 352 pages
Published
September 15th 2009
by Ballantine Books
(first published August 31st 2009)
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I loved this book not only because I could relate on many levels (the trials in parenting and marriage, dealing with one's own skepticism and reality, being in a constant state of healing from early motherloss), but because Hope Edelman is just a great writer. She's honest and funny, and not in a "trying to be really funny" kind of way. I loved the pace of the story, as well-- I dig the details and the how's and why's. The trip to the Mayan ruins was so friggin' detailed, I felt lik...more
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When Hope Edelman's three-year-old daughter develops an imaginary friend who has a dark impact on her behavior, the pragmatic Edelman and her decidedly more spiritual husband embark on a vacation to Belize -- where they take their daughter to see a Maya shaman in the hopes of healing her.
It would be easy to dismiss this whole journey out of hand: "Take a child to a shaman for an imaginary friend? Nuts!" What makes this book so riveting, though, is Edelman's brave honesty a...more
It would be easy to dismiss this whole journey out of hand: "Take a child to a shaman for an imaginary friend? Nuts!" What makes this book so riveting, though, is Edelman's brave honesty a...more
I first encountered Hope Edelman ten years ago, when I sought out her book Motherless Daughters: The Legacy of Loss shortly after my own mother died. I was intrigued when I learned she'd written a new memoir from a mother's perspective, and I was quickly drawn into her story.[return][return]Edelman discovered that her young daughter had a new imaginary friend when she was bitten on the leg by the child, who blamed it on 'Dodo.' Imaginary friends can be disruptive, but the changes in Maya's perso...more
If this rating system would allow, I would have given this book 3 1/2 stars. This book was a quick read for me. The writing was smooth and kept my interest throughout. I couldn't put it down because I was dying to know how Maya would end up as well as how Hope, Maya's mother and the author, would evolve. Or if she WOULD evolve. I didn't know much about the Mayan's before reading this book other than their calendar and how advanced their civilization was. I learned a great deal more about t...more
Edelman, her husband, and daughter are vivid characters in this memoir, which centers on a brief few days or a specific crazy phase in her daughter's life. Did Edelman need to spend 325 pages in relatively small print to get through these few days and the relevant scene-setting and flashbacks? Her use of dialog, personal detail, vivid settings, philosophical queries, and fresh snippets of research make for a compelling read. However, the work could have used another edit--long passages describin...more
I really wanted to get into this book and enjoy the author's journey to finding more to Life. As a shamanic practitioner, I am very interested in stories of modern mystics, considering the lack of tribal support, and I am equally drawn to the tribeless who seek them for healing. Given that, I never felt drawn into the story. I wanted to feel the passion of her journey, but all I felt was her insecurity, anxiety, doting worry. This is a modern woman's "Jonathan Livingston Seagull," ...more
This is a memoir about Hope, her husband, Uzi (no, not named for the gun) and their daughter, Maya.
Maya's three and has an imaginary friend, which is perfectly normal for someone her age.
Except the friend (Dodo) is a little odd. Maya will hit her mom and then say that Dodo made her do it. (Not "Dodo did it!" but "Dodo made me do it!") And when Maya gets sick, she won't take her medicine because "Dodo doesn't want me to get better."
...more
Maya's three and has an imaginary friend, which is perfectly normal for someone her age.
Except the friend (Dodo) is a little odd. Maya will hit her mom and then say that Dodo made her do it. (Not "Dodo did it!" but "Dodo made me do it!") And when Maya gets sick, she won't take her medicine because "Dodo doesn't want me to get better."
...more
Title: The Possibility of Everything
Author: Hope Edelman
ISBN: 978-0-345-50650-4
Pages: 323
Release Date: September 15, 2009
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Genre: Memoir
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Summary: In the autumn of 2000, Hope Edelman was a woman adrift, questioning her marriage, her profession, and her place in the larger world. Feeling vulnerable and isolated, she was primed for change. Into her stagnant routine dropped Dodo, her three-year-old daug...more
Author: Hope Edelman
ISBN: 978-0-345-50650-4
Pages: 323
Release Date: September 15, 2009
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Genre: Memoir
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Summary: In the autumn of 2000, Hope Edelman was a woman adrift, questioning her marriage, her profession, and her place in the larger world. Feeling vulnerable and isolated, she was primed for change. Into her stagnant routine dropped Dodo, her three-year-old daug...more
The Possibility of Everything is Hope Edelman's story of healing her broken family in the jungles of Belize. The problems manifest themselves as Dodo, a violent, imaginary friend her 3 year old daughter conjures up. Along the path of ridding the family of Dodo's disruptive and troubling presence many other troubles surface and are healed. Hope talks a lot of her deep sadness over losing her mother at a young age and of the disconnectedness in having a husband who loves his family, but remains di...more
I had a hard time with this book. I felt Ms. Edelman was an over-anxious mother making a mountain out of a mole-hill. Yes, when it's your child that is going through something, everything seems like a big deal; but it was hard to read about it in this book. I kept thinking, if she is so worried about her daughter, why doesn't she just get rid of the nanny, the daycare/pre-school, and spend more time with her being her mother! Young children today are too scheduled and farmed out - as mothers...more
I began the book on Sunday and finished on Monday, so perhaps that gives you some idea of what I thought of the book.
This is the first book I've read by Hope Edelman, and it won't be my last. Some so called "memoirs" are written solely because the author thinks he/she has something that everyone will want to read about and are written without regard for how it will be received by the reader. Words are flung about without form or function and the result is a flat narrative t...more
This is the first book I've read by Hope Edelman, and it won't be my last. Some so called "memoirs" are written solely because the author thinks he/she has something that everyone will want to read about and are written without regard for how it will be received by the reader. Words are flung about without form or function and the result is a flat narrative t...more
The letter from the publisher that was enclosed with this advanced reader copy entreated me to suspend my disbelief for a while. It also should have told me to stop thinking how I would've handled the situation, and just go with it.
I truly enjoyed the parts of the story that were focused on their sometimes difficult but always loving family dynamic, their interactions with the other travelers and the beautiful people of Belize, and I sometimes felt voyeuristic reading what felt like ...more
I truly enjoyed the parts of the story that were focused on their sometimes difficult but always loving family dynamic, their interactions with the other travelers and the beautiful people of Belize, and I sometimes felt voyeuristic reading what felt like ...more
I love the author's style. Authors are up against millions of reviewers these days: namely, the Internet. It seems some people become angry with things authors tell because in our shrinking world, everyone on the Internet now considers themselves an "author." Not me. I'm a reader. Here, author Hope Edelman, in her style, tells lots of personal things about herself...you get a feel for her personality, and I've seen her unfairly critiqued for it. THIS is exactly what I want from an auth...more
Eileen Granfors
rated it
I follow Hope on SheWrites, and this book sounds like a mysterious, revelatory journey. Although I often grit my teeth through syrupy books about the joys of motherhood, "The Possibility of Everything" has more to offer than the delicious smell of baby powder.
Edelman's daughter, Maya, at age 3, begins interacting with an imaginary friend. Well, I've been through that, and we remember the multitude of friends our daughter played with, so I didn't understand why Hope was so ...more
Edelman's daughter, Maya, at age 3, begins interacting with an imaginary friend. Well, I've been through that, and we remember the multitude of friends our daughter played with, so I didn't understand why Hope was so ...more
Lovers of memoirs; anyone looking to find a sense of hope in a difficult world; anyone willing to believe in the possibility of everything.
What I Have to Say: This was an amazingly beautiful, hopeful book that ignited my love of travel and adventure while at the same time reminding me how beautiful it is to have the option to choose to believe in whatever we please.
In this memoir, Hope and her family travel to Belize on what starts off as a vacation but in the end turns into ...more
What I Have to Say: This was an amazingly beautiful, hopeful book that ignited my love of travel and adventure while at the same time reminding me how beautiful it is to have the option to choose to believe in whatever we please.
In this memoir, Hope and her family travel to Belize on what starts off as a vacation but in the end turns into ...more
The Possibility of Everything was amazing. I was instantly wrapped up in Hope’s story, and fell in love with her little girl Maya. It was absolutely impossible to put down.
Hope had to go through so much to heal her daughter—she had to be brave and learn to accept things that she was afraid of, and things that just don’t match up with common sense. Hope is someone who does not believe in magic, spirits, or God, yet she’s taking her daughter to a healer who “communicates with the spiri...more
Hope had to go through so much to heal her daughter—she had to be brave and learn to accept things that she was afraid of, and things that just don’t match up with common sense. Hope is someone who does not believe in magic, spirits, or God, yet she’s taking her daughter to a healer who “communicates with the spiri...more
Annie Fyfe
rated it
I enjoyed this book, and the way it was written kept it moving and kept me interested. I do think the way it was presented was incorrect, when reading short descriptions of the book it made it sound like this mother decides to try and heal her daughter of her imaginary friend by taking her to a shaman in Belize. This made me think the mother is a little crazy. But while reading the book you realize that they were on vacation in Belize and decided to see a shaman there and that the mother does...more
I always enjoy Hope Edelman's books. She is a crisp, concise writer that doesn't shortchange detail and captures her thoughts and feelings with the right balance of intimacy and detachment. She balances facts and feelings in a way that keeps a non-fiction book extremely readable. As a fellow motherless daughter and motherless mother, I often feel as though she has lifted my thoughts and feelings right out of my head and put them on paper.
I wasn't sure what to expect from The Possibilit...more
I wasn't sure what to expect from The Possibilit...more
Ms. Hope Edelman knows how to write a page-turner. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, which is about a family's vacation to Belize, where they try to cure their daughter of a very naughty imaginary friend. The real journey is the psychological one Ms. Edelman makes as she moves from a skeptical, intellectual, rationalist mind to a somewhat more believing place. For me the stories she tells about their family, her daughter, the reasons why she is the way she is were very compelling. She spends a lo...more
I won an advance review copy of this book via GoodReads giveaways. The book will become available in September 2009.
If I could give three and a half stars, I would. The strength of Edelman's writing is evident in the fact that I was engrossed even though Edelman herself (as a character in her own story) drove me bananas. My parenting style is so different from hers, and there were so many points in the story where I felt like yelling, "You idiot! Why would you do that?!?"...more
If I could give three and a half stars, I would. The strength of Edelman's writing is evident in the fact that I was engrossed even though Edelman herself (as a character in her own story) drove me bananas. My parenting style is so different from hers, and there were so many points in the story where I felt like yelling, "You idiot! Why would you do that?!?"...more
Another well-written book I’ve received as part of the First Reads program from GoodReads, The Possibility of Everything chronicles Edelman’s experiences as a mother to a three-year-old daughter with a disturbing imaginary friend. Edelman’s writing is smooth and easily kept me turning the pages; I read the book in just a few days. Her description of the range of emotions she goes through during the four months that the book covers is believable and was strong enough to bring out similar emotio
...more
Ugh. The only thing that saved this book was the details provided about Belize and the Mayan culture. Hope Eddleman is hopelessly neurotic and self indulgent. Unfortunately, she also chose to read the audio version and it was just as whiny as I imagine her to be in real life. She is part of the mommy subculture who do Waldorf school (only to brag about it), have play dates with celebrity moms (only to brag about it), and have a nanny (all the while whining about how much time being a mother ...more
Edelman is an amazing writer who somehow wrote an entire non-fiction book out of a one week vacation and the lead up to it. I figure that she must be a really good writer because she had me hooked even though the story is not one I would normally go for. The idea of taking a young child to Belize to see a healer in order to cure her of an imaginary friend seems quite bizarre to me and I did not identify with her parenting style. That being said, Edelman's ability to vividly describe her feelings...more
I got this book free, as an ARC, from Goodreads. I love free stuff.
This is the story of a semi-neurotic mother whose daughter starts to act out and blame it on an imaginary friend. There is one scene, near the beginning of the book where there is a birthday party going on downstairs and the mother (Hope) comes upstairs to find Maya, who has slipped away from the party. She finds her talking in another language to this imaginary friend, Dodo... then as they leave the room, the girl...more
This is the story of a semi-neurotic mother whose daughter starts to act out and blame it on an imaginary friend. There is one scene, near the beginning of the book where there is a birthday party going on downstairs and the mother (Hope) comes upstairs to find Maya, who has slipped away from the party. She finds her talking in another language to this imaginary friend, Dodo... then as they leave the room, the girl...more
Mmmm... I think some of the aspects of this book were very interesting, especially the parts about "alternative" healing, so anyone with an interest in that might like this book. But you'll have to wade through a lot of complaints about how hard it is to be upper middle class. *cough* I feel also that Edelman was pushed to make the book longer, and so there are E X T E N S I V E swaths of history of Mayan pyramids that didn't seem connected to the point of her book. I also have to say ...more
A lovely memoir of a family in crisis and a woman who finds answers in a most unusual way.
Hope is a mother and wife with whom I related to in many ways. The devastating loss of her own mother at a young age left her crippled emotionally. To cope she tried to replace the emptiness left behind with a sense of control, order and rationality. But instead her life had become stagnant and unfufilling, her marriage troubled and her sense of self muted. She then finds her life turned u...more
Hope is a mother and wife with whom I related to in many ways. The devastating loss of her own mother at a young age left her crippled emotionally. To cope she tried to replace the emptiness left behind with a sense of control, order and rationality. But instead her life had become stagnant and unfufilling, her marriage troubled and her sense of self muted. She then finds her life turned u...more
This is an amazing book. The writing is exquisite and exceptionally honest. The story - that of a young mother with a difficult three-year old daughter and loving husband - should be read by all young adults BEFORE getting married and/or having children. That said - I agree with all the two star reviews. The author, Hope (a deterministic name if ever there is one), is a great writer, and maybe one of the worst mothers (with exception of neglectful or abusing ones) ever. Fortunately, through her ...more
Hope Edelman's talent as a writer goes beyond my expectations in this gripping tale of a Mother's desire to comfort and protect her child, to reconnect with her husband, to find something to believe in. A spur of the moment journey to Belize brings all her strengths to the forefront and though maybe not real answers at least real beginnings. Finding a bit of faith in the most unexpected places and peace sorely needed. The Possibility of Everything
by Hope Edelman grabbed from the beginning ...more
by Hope Edelman grabbed from the beginning ...more
OK, I confess, Hope is my friend and I've been reading sections of this book in development for years. Nevertheless, I promise you the prose is absolutely gorgeous, and the book will take you places -- in the world, a Shaman's shack and butterfly sanctuary in Belize -- and in the narrator's interior life where you've never been before. And that, in turn, will take you places in your own inner life where you may never have ventured before. It will make you question: why do I believe what I do? H...more
I was fortunate to win an advanced reader copy of this book through goodreads.com.
The story is about a mother's quest to rid her daughter of her imaginary friend through whatever means necessary, even if they are unconventional, to say the least. It reads as part memoir, part travel diary, and part spiritual guide. While I went into the story with my defenses up (seriously? a spiritual healer to get rid of an imaginary friend?), the book quickly appealed to the new mother in me. It...more
The story is about a mother's quest to rid her daughter of her imaginary friend through whatever means necessary, even if they are unconventional, to say the least. It reads as part memoir, part travel diary, and part spiritual guide. While I went into the story with my defenses up (seriously? a spiritual healer to get rid of an imaginary friend?), the book quickly appealed to the new mother in me. It...more
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Hope Edelman is the internationally acclaimed author of five nonfiction books, including the bestsellers Motherless Daughters and Motherless Mothers, as well as the upcoming memoir, The Possibility of Everything. She has lectured extensively on the subjects of early mother loss and nonfiction writing in the U.S., Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Her articles and reviews have appeared in numerou...more
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