House of Steps: Adventures of a Southerner Removed to Kansas

by Amy Blackmarr

Book Overview

There are dozens of "finding home" memoirs on the shelves these days, accounts by men and women who, tired of fast-lane life and following Henry Thoreau's footsteps, make for the countryside to raise... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0670882372
• ISBN13: 9780670882373
• Release Date: July 1999
• Publisher: Viking Books
• Length: 158 Pages
• Weight: 0.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.3" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

Nice place for an adventure

The last time we saw Amy Blackmarr (in the fine "Going to Ground: Simple Life on a Georgia Pond"), she had been forced to give up her pondering on the pond and was headed to the North Georgia mountains. However, she somehow got derailed and wound up in a peculiar little house in Kansas. No problem, in her newest work, "House of Steps: Finding the Path Home," she still finds plenty of adventures to share with us, including some from her past life. And her reflections on life, love, family and nature are as sharp as ever. As she did on the pond, Amy still finds snakes and other interesting creatures to deal with, and some of the people are pretty wild too. She even wins the battle of the mailbox, sort of. Either of her books is just the right length for a trip to the beach, or a few hours in the backyard. One more thought: If you like these books, you should also try "Ecology of a Cracker Childhood" by Janisse Ray, another South Georgia woman with a heart for nature.

Solitude!

I loved this book as I did her first. I relate well with her lifestyle, for it is mine too. I worship the solitude living alone can give me. I can laugh along with Amy as she battles the Wasps and spiders. I can share her fun at being able to walk "nekked" in the house whenever needed and in the fact we are not bound by someone elses rules. Noone can tell us how or when the house should be clean. Ms Blackmarr is my hero :-)

Intriguing, touching, acutely insightful, funny

While Blackmarr's first book was about having the courage to follow your dream, this book seemed to be about your dream later taking you to a place where you didn't really expect or want to go--in her case, back to Kansas--and drawing what meaning you can out of it. But Blackmarr has such an incredible knack for finding meaning in just everyday experiences, what she calls "the remarkable and incorruptible process of living from ordinary day to ordinary day." This book worked on many levels for me. It's hilariously funny sometimes, has some great characters, like the stove man and the wasp lady, but it's also intensely spiritual. It has a zen-like acuteness to it. Yet it's a fast, easy reade. There's a great deal in a small space, here.

Deserves rave reviews, IMAGINATIVE, kind, gentle , TRUE!

EASY: a delight to read. INFORMATIVE: CRAFTED carefully, skillfully. PROFESSIONAL: author growing geometrically (1-3-6?). POSITIVE: author mellowing. LANGUAGE: succinct but not excessively. HIGHLIGHTED: masterful use of relevant quotes. THOUGHTS: personal - must sit on own bottoms. ENGAGING: reader perspectives will evaluate(FAIR). FORM(Design): selectively episodic. GRAMMAR: superior. ENHANCED: FUNNY! STYLE: free, lyrical, musical(Delightfully melodic, rhythmic sounds). NARRATIVE: Substantive, significant ideas; Factual, meaty detail; Flowing, reads faster. LAYERED: something for each, more for some, much more for others. ALMOST MORE IMPORTANT FOR WHAT IT ISN'T, AS WHAT IT IS! HOORAY for "spontaneous housework! It's OK!