The Miss Dennis School of Writing

And Other Lessons from a Woman's Life

By: Alice Steinbach

Narrated by: Jannie Meisberger

This first book by Pulitzer Prize winner Alice Steinbach is an intimate, personal collection of essays, remembrances, and columns that follows in the creative non-fiction tradition of Anna Quindelen and Mary Sarton.

©1996 Bancroft Press (P)2014 Bancroft Press

A book that must be shared

This collection of her columns were hidden gems. I laughed and cried.
The narrator did an excellent read with expression.

Interesting

I really enjoyed this audiobook. It was interesting to experience a different generation of raising children. There was a good amount of humor and great writing!

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review. The fact that I was gifted this book had no influence over my opinion of it

Insightful Jaunt!!

Would you listen to The Miss Dennis School of Writing again? Why?

I would listen to it again. The story was a secret glimpse into what and how a woman thinks and perceives the world around her. It explores real scenarios in which Alice, the author, finds herself and the situational humor shines through in glances. It is definitely worth the time.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Alice, of course, was my favorite character. I like her outlook on life and how she sees deals most humorously with situations such as sibling rivalry, and Thanksgiving Dinner at a Day Spa!

Which scene was your favorite?

I can't choose just one! It's a great book and Jannie brought it all to life. She was clear and concise, reading the words as if they were somehow stitched by her tongue with sugary confection. Her accent doesn't hurt.

Who was the most memorable character of The Miss Dennis School of Writing and why?

The story was full of characters, but none more than Alice. Sometimes irrational, sometimes funny and awkward, and sometimes a worry wart, she does not fail to entertain.

Any additional comments?

I really enjoyed listening to this every morning and every afternoon for the last week on the way to and from work! A great way to pass the time and share the story of a woman's life.

A Slice of Time

The author came of age in the generation before mine. I don't usually read books like this, tending as I do more to the historical and non-fictional, and I didn't exactly know what to expect, but I figured I'd take a chance on this one given the reputation of the writer. I was not disappointed.

She being a single parent raising sons, it was fascinating to get a woman's-eye-perspective of what it felt like to grow up, and become an adult in the era of the 1960's and 1970's. That was the era that my mother raised me, under similar circumstances. So since the writing covers the span of her life from childhood to adulthood, the things she wrote "rang true", given the experience I had my mother's thoughts.

The author passed on about 5 years ago, just as my mother had. The things they enjoyed seemed similar. And so, it was like listening to my mother's diary being read to me. Steinbach helped me to see more than I otherwise could, the hallmark of a fine writer.

The reader was also quite excellent - and though she had a British rather than a Baltimore accent, it wasn't out of place given the writing style. Well done.

I was given this book at no cost on the condition that I write a review for it.