Another Review at MyShelf.Com

Revenge of the Paste Eaters
Memoirs of a Misfit

by Cheryl Peck



      Part memoir, part poetry collection, and part humor essays, Revenge of the Paste Eaters is one of the most enjoyable nonfiction works I’ve read in years. If you’re a middle-aged woman in America, you’ll recognize something of yourself in this book. The stories of Peck’s childhood were so funny and so close to things from my own life that I immediately felt like I knew the author and we probably ate paste together at some point. I am absolutely certain we had the same hairbrush smacking, big head deflating, stressed-out mother. Revenge of the Paste Eaters bounces from topic to topic, looking for meaning from the collective fragments of one person’s life. In parts, each anecdote, essay or poem bears its own weight -it works as a singular unit- funny and insightful, but when taken together, they show us something about ourselves, as well as about the author. She encourages us to look at our own inner paradoxes, even as she looks at hers, such as how a woman of size can be such a size-ist about tiny people or how a lesbian can find trans-gender distressing. She shows us that people are constructed from inconsistencies and paste, and that if you’re going to be fair to others, you really need to start by being fair to yourself. I found the book a delight from beginning to end.

The Book

5-Spot / TimeWarner
October 2005
Trade Paper Back
0446693731
Nonfiction / memoir / poetry / essays
More at Amazon.com
Excerpt
NOTE:

The Reviewer

Jan Fields
Reviewed 2005
NOTE: Reviewer Jan Fields is the editor of Kid Magazine Writers emagazine and has written dozens of stories and articles for the children's magazine market.
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