Marion Winik's Books

First Comes Love

A Memoir

By: Marion Winik

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A heartbreaking and hilarious memoir by longtime All Things Considered commentator and author of The Glen Rock Book of the Dead charts the trajectory of a marriage so impossible that it became inevitable. "Gritty, funny, moving, horrific, outrageous—and, above all, fearlessly honest.... ultimately a joyous story." —Newsday When Marion Winik fell in love with Tony Heubach during a wild Mardi Gras in New Orleans, her friends shook their heads. For starters, she was straight and he was gay. But Marion and Tony's impossible love turned out to be true enough to produce a marriage and two beautiful sons, true enough to weather drug addiction, sexual betrayal, and the AIDS that would kill Tony at the age of thirty-seven, twelve years after they met.

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Page Count

274

Publisher

Vintage

Published Date

ISBN 10

030755614X

ISBN 13

9780307556141

Rules for the Unruly

Living an Unconventional Life

By: Marion Winik

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Rules for the Unruly

Living an Unconventional Life

By: Marion Winik

Rules for the Unruly is a distillation of surprising life wisdom from National Public Radio commentator and writer Marion Winik -- a woman who has seen it all, done it all, and would never exchange her experiences for the security of a traditional life. Winik's amusing tales of outrageous mistakes, haunting uncertainty, and the never-ending struggle to stay true to her heart strike a powerful chord with creative, impassioned, independent-minded free spirits who know they're different -- and want to stay that way. Winik's seven Rules for the Unruly are: THE PATH IS NOT STRAIGHT · MISTAKES NEED NOT BE FATAL PEOPLE ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN ACHIEVEMENTS OR POSSESSIONS BE GENTLE WITH YOUR PARENTS · NEVER STOP DOING WHAT YOU CARE ABOUT MOST LEARN TO USE A SEMICOLON · YOU WILL FIND LOVE Rules for the Unruly shows us how taking risks, living creatively, and cherishing our inner weirdness can become the secret of our happiness and success, not our downfall.

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Page Count

196

Publisher

Simon and Schuster

Published Date

ISBN 10

0743216636

ISBN 13

9780743216630

Guesswork

Essays on forgetting and remembering who we are

By: Marion Winik

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Guesswork

Essays on forgetting and remembering who we are

By: Marion Winik

Funny, thought-provoking, and always entertaining, personal essayist Marion Winik is known for decades of storytelling on NPR and the stunning memoir First Comes Love. Memory and identity are the focus of this new collection, Guesswork, drawn from a column that has won “Best of Baltimore” from Baltimore magazine several years running. “The Things They Googled” looks at how search engines have changed our lives. “Love, Loss, and What I Cooked” takes autobiography to the kitchen. “What If You Were Right?” and “What If You Were Wrong?” highlight the way possibly incorrect interpretations of long-ago events subtly radiate through our lives over the years. These eight essays will inspire you to reconsider your own history and sense of self from new angles: how treasured places and objects fit in, how your life as a reader shapes who you are. A wonderful introduction to Winik’s work, which now spans seven volumes chronicling her life. “Her essays are mind-blowing,” according to Jane Smiley, “you can’t stop reading them.”

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Shebooks

Published Date

ISBN 10

1940838053

ISBN 13

9781940838052

Telling

By: Marion Winik

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Telling

By: Marion Winik

Combining the insight of Anna Quindlen and the comic storytelling of Garrison Keillor with her own singularly outrageous humor, a commentator on NPR's All Things Considered takes us on a tour of the minefield of chance and circumstance that make up a life. "Winik's voice is so true and clear and compassionate, we're happy to listen to any story she wants to tell." —Los Angeles Times Book Review Along the way, she offers razor-sharp takes on everything from adolescence in suburban New Jersey ("Yes, I wanted to be a wild teenage rebel, but I wanted to do it with my parents' blessing") to hellish houseguests and bad-news boyfriends; from the joys of breastfeeding in public to the sometimes-salvation of motherhood. Candid, passionate, and breathtakingly funny, Marion Winik maintains an unshaken belief that following one's heart is more important than following the rules—and a conviction that the secrets we try to hide often contain the deepest truths. "A born iconoclast, an aspiring artiste, a feminist vegetarian prodigal daughter, from early youth I considered myself destined to lead a startling life far outside the bounds of convention. I would be famous, dangerous, brilliant and relentlessly cool: a sort of cross between Emma Goldman, Jack Kerouac, and Georgia O'Keeffe.... So where did this station wagon come from?" —from Telling

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Page Count

225

Publisher

Vintage

Published Date

ISBN 10

0307755479

ISBN 13

9780307755476

Highs in the Low Fifties

How I Stumbled Through The Joys Of Single Living

By: Marion Winik

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Highs in the Low Fifties

How I Stumbled Through The Joys Of Single Living

By: Marion Winik

A cross between Nora Ephron and David Sedaris, longtime NPR commentator Marion Winik has a uniquely hilarious and relatable way of looking at life. Her stories of being single in middle age, marked by stylish writing and stunning candor, left readers bent double with laughter when they appeared in her column, rated "Best of Baltimore" by Baltimore Magazine. Highs in the Low Fifties follows Winik’s attempt to rebuild her world as a once-widowed, once-divorced single mom. With her signature optimism, resilience, and poor judgment, Winik dives into a series of ill-starred romantic experiences. Her clarity about her mistakes and ability to find humor in the darkest moments—in love, and in all parts of life—has won her a growing crowd of devoted followers . . . and a few voyeurs.

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Page Count

229

Publisher

Rowman & Littlefield

Published Date

ISBN 10

0762794801

ISBN 13

9780762794805

Above Us Only Sky

Essays

By: Marion Winik

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Above Us Only Sky

Essays

By: Marion Winik

A collection of essays on midlife by an NPR commentator includes anecdotes about her experiences of parenting a brood of children and stepchildren and explores such topics as marathon running, feminism, faith, love and loss, and ADD. Original.

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Page Count

224

Publisher

Seal Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

1580051448

ISBN 13

9781580051446

August In Paris

And other travel misadventures

By: Marion Winik

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August In Paris

And other travel misadventures

By: Marion Winik

If you love David Sedaris, you’ll have to read Marion Winik’s anything-but-traditional tales of traveling with her cranky family in tow. From lost teenagers and missed connections to overpriced drinks and gambling mishaps, Winik–author of seven memoirs, and a Morning Edition commentator on NPR– illuminates the unexpected pleasures of journeying out of your comfort zone. Ranging from Paris to Peru, from New Orleans to Uganda to the Atlantis resort in the Bahamas, these travel essays are full of life, humor, and humanity. Whether or not you’re hitting the road solo or with loved ones trailing behind, you’ll want these on your e-reader before you set out.

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Shebooks

Published Date

ISBN 10

1940838649

ISBN 13

9781940838649

The Glen Rock Book of the Dead

By: Marion Winik

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The Glen Rock Book of the Dead

By: Marion Winik

In her author's note, Marion Winik writes that in Mexico on the Day of the Dead, "people build altars to their loved ones . . . they go to the cemetery and stay all night, praying, singing, drinking, wailing. They tell the sad stories and the noble ones; they eat cookies shaped like skeletons. They celebrate and mourn at once." Striking that balance, The Glen Rock Book of the Dead presents snapshot portraits of The Jeweler, The Driving Instructor, The Bad Influence, The Queen of New Jersey—and roughly fifty others who have touched Winik's life, from her son's second grade teacher to Keith Haring. Tied together by the inimitable, poignant voice of Winik, these losses form not only an autobiography but a story of our time, delivering a lyrical journey that ultimately raises the spirits.

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Catapult

Published Date

ISBN 10

1582439648

ISBN 13

9781582439648

The Big Book of the Dead

By: Marion Winik

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The Big Book of the Dead

By: Marion Winik

Marion Wink is esteemed for bringing humor and wit to that most unavoidable of subjects: death. At last, Winik's critically acclaimed, cult favorites, Glen Rock Book of the Dead and Baltimore Book of the Dead, have been carefully combined in their proper chronological order, revealing more clearly than ever before the character hidden throughout these stories: Winik herself. Featuring twelve additional vignettes along with a brand–new introduction, The Big Book of the Dead continues Winik's work as an empathetic, witty chronicler of life.

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Page Count

320

Publisher

Catapult

Published Date

ISBN 10

1640092544

ISBN 13

9781640092549

The Baltimore Book of the Dead

By: Marion Winik

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The Baltimore Book of the Dead

By: Marion Winik

“This book is both brief and miraculous, and it will be finished before you’re ready to let it go. Like life.” —Ann Patchett, author of Commonwealth When Cheryl Strayed was asked by The Boston Globe to name a book she finds herself recommending time and again, she chose The Glen Rock Book of the Dead. Now, a decade later, that beloved book has a moving companion volume. The Baltimore Book of the Dead is a new collection of portraits of the dead, weaving an unusual, richly populated memoir of compressed narratives. Approaching mourning and memory with intimacy, humor, and an eye for the idiosyncratic, the story starts in the 1960s in Marion Winik’s native New Jersey, winds through Austin, Texas, and rural Pennsylvania, and finally settles in her current home of Baltimore. Winik begins with a portrait of her mother, the Alpha, introducing locales and language around which other stories will orbit: the power of family, home, and love; the pain of loss and the tenderness of nostalgia; the backdrop of nature and public events. From there, she goes on to create a highly personal panorama of the last half century of American life.

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Page Count

160

Publisher

Catapult

Published Date

ISBN 10

164009122X

ISBN 13

9781640091221

Above Us Only Sky

Essays

By: Marion Winik

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Above Us Only Sky

Essays

By: Marion Winik

These essays on a woman's wild ride through life give us Marion's bracing tonic–of–truth voice in splendid form—her voice that is always brilliantly funny, intelligent, brave, haunting, and full of surprises, revelations, and wise, wild connections. At this point, I don't think I could live without it. If you don't know her yet, your life is about to get better." —Naomi Shihab Nye Whether she is writing about the vagaries of family vacations on land and sea, about getting her tubes tied and the importance of a woman's right to choose, or her battles with her rebel pyromaniac teenage son, Marion Winik is searingly honest and unfailingly witty in the face of adversity. In this collection of essays, a treat for dedicated fans and new readers alike, Winik explores domesticity, midlife, and aging. A brand new final section brings Above Us Only Sky—originally published in 2005—up to date with essays from her award–winning column in the Baltimore Fishbowl, taking us through experiences with blended families, adult children, and empty nest.

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Page Count

337

Publisher

Catapult

Published Date

ISBN 10

1640093087

ISBN 13

9781640093089

Highs in the Low Fifties

How I Stumbled Through The Joys Of Single Living

By: Marion Winik

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Highs in the Low Fifties

How I Stumbled Through The Joys Of Single Living

By: Marion Winik

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Page Count

229

Publisher

Rowman & Littlefield

Published Date

ISBN 10

0762794801

ISBN 13

9780762794805

The Big Book of the Dead

By: Marion Winik

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The Big Book of the Dead

By: Marion Winik

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320

Publisher

Catapult

Published Date

ISBN 10

1640092544

ISBN 13

9781640092549

The Baltimore Book of the Dead

By: Marion Winik

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The Baltimore Book of the Dead

By: Marion Winik

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Page Count

160

Publisher

Catapult

Published Date

ISBN 10

164009122X

ISBN 13

9781640091221

Rules for the Unruly

Living an Unconventional Life

By: Marion Winik

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Rules for the Unruly

Living an Unconventional Life

By: Marion Winik

Shares wisdom learned from the mistakes, uncertainties, and struggles of the author and her associates as they try to stay true to themselves.

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Page Count

196

Publisher

Simon and Schuster

Published Date

ISBN 10

0743216032

ISBN 13

9780743216036

The Lunch-Box Chronicles

Notes from the Parenting Underground

By: Marion Winik

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The Lunch-Box Chronicles

Notes from the Parenting Underground

By: Marion Winik

Child Magazine Best Book of the Year "For me, parenting is like dieting. Every day, I wake up filled with resolve and good intentions, perfection in view, and every day I somehow stray from the path. The difference is with dieting, I usually make it to lunch. . . ." With the candor and often hilarious outlook that have made her a beloved commentator on NPR, Marion Winik takes the reader on an unforgettable journey through modern parenthood, with all of its attendant anxieties and joys. A single mother with two small boys, Winik knows exactly what she's talking about, from battles over breakfast and bedtime to the virtues of pre-packaged food and weightier issues like sex education and sibling rivalry. Part memoir and part survival guide, The Lunch-Box Chronicles is an engaging philosophy of parenting from a staunch realist, who knows that kids and their parents both will inevitably fall far short of perfection, and that a "good enough mom" really is, in fact, good enough.

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