Blue Suburbia: Almost a Memoir – An Honest and Searing Free Verse Chronicle of Escape, Love, and the Human Spirit

Blue Suburbia: Almost a Memoir – An Honest and Searing Free Verse Chronicle of Escape, Love, and the Human Spirit

Blue Suburbia is a searing memoir so fresh, original, and honest that it will break your heart and renew your faith in the human spirit. With each spare stroke of her pen, Laurie Lico Albanese paints a vivid portrait of the blue-collar landscape of her childhood -- rusted swing sets, auto body shops, greasy hands, home improvements -- taking readers along for the wild, treacherous ride that leads to her escape. Her mother may stand silently at the sink year after year, or lie in the basement weeping, but Albanese is determined to flee the deadening certainty of her parents' lives. Her story does not disappoint us. By turns haunting, hilarious, tragic, and romantic, Blue Suburbia is the chronicle of a determined young woman who overcomes family limitations, socio-economic obstacles, and personal fears to build a happy -- and blessedly ordinary -- life. Written entirely in free verse, Blue Suburbia 's cadence is a steady, rhythmic heartbeat, pulsing with pain, rebellion, love, and triumph. This is the story many of us might tell, if we had the courage. Blue Suburbia is a searing memoir so fresh, original, and honest that it will break your heart and renew your faith in the human spirit. With each spare stroke of her pen, Laurie Lico Albanese paints a vivid portrait of the blue-collar landscape of her childhood -- rusted swing sets, auto body shops, greasy hands, home improvements -- taking readers along for the wild, treacherous ride that leads to her escape. Her mother may stand silently at the sink year after year, or lie in the basement weeping, but Albanese is determined to flee the deadening certainty of her parents' lives. Her story does not disappoint us. By turns haunting, hilarious, tragic, and romantic, Blue Suburbia is the chronicle of a determined young woman who overcomes family limitations, socio-economic obstacles, and personal fears to build a happy -- and blessedly ordinary -- life. Written entirely in free verse, Blue Suburbia 's cadence is a steady, rhythmic heartbeat, pulsing with pain, rebellion, love, and triumph. This is the story many of us might tell, if we had the courage. Laurie Albanese is the author of the novel Lynelle by the Sea and the memoir Blue Suburbia , which was named a Book Sense Best Book of the Year and was an Entertainment Weekly Editor's Choice selection. Blue Suburbia By Lico Albanese, Laurie Perennial ISBN: 0060565632 The Story of My Life First thing is the belt worn soft from my father's pant loops curling like a black eternity glyph across my legs, pliant back of my thighs, hard shin of my calves in bed, almost always in bed almost always in the dark the strap in his fist or standing in the middle of my bedroom drawing leather in a whisper from the waist of his pants at least three times a week for five years or more that's seven hundred times -- I know, he taught me math the same way because I was stubborn he says, the belt was a mercy, if I'd used my hands I would have broken your bones. I love my father. How can I tell the story of my life without starting here? Continues... Excerpted from Blue Suburbia by Lico Albanese, Laurie Excerpted by permission. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher. Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.