The Art of Digression: A Fragmented Memoir, is a nonfiction work in both prose and poetry about a place, a family, and one individual. Short and to the point, the "fragments" relate events and experiences from ranging from prehistory to the present. Overall they express the point of view of the narrator, a strong, determined woman who admires and accepts the positive qualities, i.e., the work ethic, of her rural antecedents as they survive the dust bowl, poverty, isolation and World War II. But she also struggles to overcome and overturn the negative aspects of that culture. Especially, the unequal treatment of women. The stories range from sad and poignant to blunt, honest and humorous as she takes us with her through the losses and triumphs of her childhood, adulthood, and into her old age where as she contemplates her own death and celebrates her gay marriage. These are bold stories told in a brassy voice.