It. Goes. So. Fast.: The Year of No Do-Overs by Mary Louise KellyGratitude
Thank you to Henry Holt and Goodreads Giveaways for the review copy of It Goes So Fast by Mary Louise Kelly.
Description
Mary Louise Kelly, of All Things Considered fame, missed a lot of moments of her kids’ lives, in part due to her live radio show. Her eldest son was about to graduate from high school when she realized that she would not have another chance to make up for the times that she missed. At the same time, she happened to have a book deal on the table, and decided that she would write about her year of doing everything she could to be part of her sons’ lives, which turned out to be a lot about soccer games.
It Goes So Fast focuses on Kelly’s family experiences, including her father and his death. It is set in an anxious time in world politics, as this was also around the time that Russia invaded Ukraine. She also shares about her career, aging, friendships, and her passion for running.
The chapters are more like individual essays than an unbroken narrative, though the storyline of Kelly’s “Year with No Do-Overs” does carry through. Her prose is confident and friendly and her explorations avoid easy conclusions and simple truths. Instead, the difficulties of balancing career and motherhood, her identity as a woman, and her relationships are allowed ambivalence and gray areas.
It Goes So Fast focuses on Kelly’s family experiences, including her father and his death. It is set in an anxious time in world politics, as this was also around the time that Russia invaded Ukraine. She also shares about her career, aging, friendships, and her passion for running.
The chapters are more like individual essays than an unbroken narrative, though the storyline of Kelly’s “Year with No Do-Overs” does carry through. Her prose is confident and friendly and her explorations avoid easy conclusions and simple truths. Instead, the difficulties of balancing career and motherhood, her identity as a woman, and her relationships are allowed ambivalence and gray areas.
Would I Teach This Book?
Would I teach It Goes So Fast? It Goes So Fast is a good example of a memoir in essays and how to build a narrative through stories that overlap in time and experience. It is also allowed to wander a bit in terms of subject matter, though it always comes home to her sons.
It Goes So Fast, however, might not be as interesting to a younger college crowd as it would be to readers who have been out in the world a bit more. Especially to those who are parents. Kelly addresses the fact that her book is very much about motherhood early on, and points out that everyone must deal with the realization that there is only so much time in this life, and there are many experiences of “the last time” that we might not know are the last time until much later. I can identify with a lot of what she shares in her book.
Still, It Goes So Fast is so much about parenthood that while it felt relevant to me, I am not sure that I would teach it to a general audience. Perhaps in a gender studies class or in an essay writing or memoir class, but I am still not sure that I would choose this book over the many other memoirs available.
View all my reviews
It Goes So Fast, however, might not be as interesting to a younger college crowd as it would be to readers who have been out in the world a bit more. Especially to those who are parents. Kelly addresses the fact that her book is very much about motherhood early on, and points out that everyone must deal with the realization that there is only so much time in this life, and there are many experiences of “the last time” that we might not know are the last time until much later. I can identify with a lot of what she shares in her book.
Still, It Goes So Fast is so much about parenthood that while it felt relevant to me, I am not sure that I would teach it to a general audience. Perhaps in a gender studies class or in an essay writing or memoir class, but I am still not sure that I would choose this book over the many other memoirs available.
View all my reviews
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