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Giving My Self to the Wind
This classic collection of shorts stories, essays, poems, and character sketches will take you to new places and engaging themes. The book's title was taken from the penultimate line of a poem "Light the Light" that Kathryn wrote in her teens. Kathryn's mom surprised her and embroidered the poem in a sampler; a photo of which appears in the book.
There's a little bit of everything: humor, sorrow, philosophy, and facts. Mostly, it exposes the reader to bits and pieces of life events and topics, many of which are indexed in the back of the book for easier reading.
There's a little bit of everything: humor, sorrow, philosophy, and facts. Mostly, it exposes the reader to bits and pieces of life events and topics, many of which are indexed in the back of the book for easier reading.
297 pages, Paperback
Published October 13, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
December 31, 2017
GIVING MY SELF TO THE WIND by Kathryn Atkins is a zesty medley of short stories, poems, and essays. The title is apt – her imagination charts a wild ride. Her words are at times spicy, snappy, honeyed, pungent. I devoured each story, ready for more.
Atkins's work is so multi-faceted that any single descriptor by itself gives a limited, if not skewed, impression of what’s inside the cover.
Her humor often leaves me in stitches (I Want Big Boobs, Speeding With Zen, and Thong Underwear). Sex is a frequent theme, but with a tongue-in-cheek quality to it.
Atkins doesn’t shy away from being blunt (Moving On), or shocking the reader with unexpected endings to her stories (Betsy, Change of Heart). She is adept at writing outré fantasy (Silver Screen) as well as serious essays (Success Is Showing Up).
Atkins has a talent for fluid metaphors, and I love the two essays that employ this literary technique to ponder life’s ups and downs. Shoes – “I feel like empty shoes sometimes waiting for the children to put me on.” Life Is a Bicycle Ride – “Some days, the roads are littered with abandoned bikes – the little baskets with broken dreams hang off the fenders.”
Atkins’s poetry is loving, thoughtful, playful, and accessible. The poems reflect her engagement with every aspect of life – family members, other people, mud puddles, skin, the Eiffel Tower.
Some essays are memoir. My Berkeley Fort recounts the realization of a childhood dream.
No More Pain shares her personal struggle and victory over osteoarthritis and tendonitis. Mulling over the serendipity in life (A Chance Meeting), Atkins worries about all of the events that could have interfered with her marriage and the birth of her children - “Then where would our children be? I miss them already.”
If I had to recommend just one piece to read from the entire collection, it would be Locked in the Attic. It’s a brilliant fictionalized memoir where she accidentally gets locked in the attic and meets her birth father for the first time. She voices her questions and imagines his replies. The story will bring tears to the eyes of anyone who’s ever had experience with adoption, either as a parent or a child.
The title of Atkins’s book is from a line in a poem she wrote as a young teen – Light the Light. Her mother, recognizing her daughter’s gift with words, memorialized the poem in a hand-stitched sampler. The poem is included in this collection.
Atkins’s collection offers something for everyone.
Atkins's work is so multi-faceted that any single descriptor by itself gives a limited, if not skewed, impression of what’s inside the cover.
Her humor often leaves me in stitches (I Want Big Boobs, Speeding With Zen, and Thong Underwear). Sex is a frequent theme, but with a tongue-in-cheek quality to it.
Atkins doesn’t shy away from being blunt (Moving On), or shocking the reader with unexpected endings to her stories (Betsy, Change of Heart). She is adept at writing outré fantasy (Silver Screen) as well as serious essays (Success Is Showing Up).
Atkins has a talent for fluid metaphors, and I love the two essays that employ this literary technique to ponder life’s ups and downs. Shoes – “I feel like empty shoes sometimes waiting for the children to put me on.” Life Is a Bicycle Ride – “Some days, the roads are littered with abandoned bikes – the little baskets with broken dreams hang off the fenders.”
Atkins’s poetry is loving, thoughtful, playful, and accessible. The poems reflect her engagement with every aspect of life – family members, other people, mud puddles, skin, the Eiffel Tower.
Some essays are memoir. My Berkeley Fort recounts the realization of a childhood dream.
No More Pain shares her personal struggle and victory over osteoarthritis and tendonitis. Mulling over the serendipity in life (A Chance Meeting), Atkins worries about all of the events that could have interfered with her marriage and the birth of her children - “Then where would our children be? I miss them already.”
If I had to recommend just one piece to read from the entire collection, it would be Locked in the Attic. It’s a brilliant fictionalized memoir where she accidentally gets locked in the attic and meets her birth father for the first time. She voices her questions and imagines his replies. The story will bring tears to the eyes of anyone who’s ever had experience with adoption, either as a parent or a child.
The title of Atkins’s book is from a line in a poem she wrote as a young teen – Light the Light. Her mother, recognizing her daughter’s gift with words, memorialized the poem in a hand-stitched sampler. The poem is included in this collection.
Atkins’s collection offers something for everyone.
November 21, 2017
Picture the best restaurant ever. Examine its menu—22 appetizers, 4 more appetizers, 32 entrees, 31 side dishes, 27 desserts, and five more special dishes. Yes, this is a fairly extravagant metaphor. In her book, Giving My Self to the Wind, Chef Kathryn Atkins has cooked up very short stories, humorous pieces, essays, flash fiction, letters, the “Pajamas Series,” “Persons,” poems, and published pieces. It’s an extravagant feast served to appeal to almost any appetite. And because there are so many pieces in the book, you can indulge in a banquet or snack whenever you want to. (Review by Barbara Ardinger, Ph.D., www.barbaraardinger.com)
December 30, 2017
Kathryn has assembled a great collection of her work. I found the pieces all very interesting and shows the variety of writing she produces. I am impressed how her voice clearly shines through in each one.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews