We live today as courtiers once did in royal courts: we must appear civil while attempting to crush all those around us. The authors have created a sort of anti-Book of Virtues in this encyclopedic compendium of the ways and means of power.Įveryone wants power and everyone is in a constant duplicitous game to gain more power at the expense of others, according to Greene, a screenwriter and former editor at Esquire (Elffers, a book packager, designed the volume, with its attractive marginalia). Unfortunately, the closing primer on Mennonite history falls flat.Ī buoyant, somewhat mordant ramble through triumphs, upheavals and utter normalcy.

After hesitantly re-entering the dating world, the author faced the revelation that she is woefully codependent by creating her own 12-step program, with directives such as “Step Two: Sit Down at the Computer with Wild Medusa Hair” and “Step Ten: Branch Out from Borscht.” Within the humor, Janzen offers depictions of calamity and dark truths about regrettable relationships. The recurring question of whether her abusive former spouse ever loved her is found in numerous contexts-solemn, analytical, even whimsical. Punctuating overarching themes of blithe humor and Mennonite values are brief glimpses of raw despair, which Janzen eloquently, albeit briefly, explores. Lines as jolting as “Nick had been drinking and offering to kill me and then himself,” about her troubled ex-husband, are tempered by poignant moments of grace during her recovery from a debilitating accident: “Because I couldn't raise my right arm, students sprang up to take notes on the board.” The author’s relatives feature prominently throughout the narrative, her mother’s quirky sensibilities bubbling over in merry nuggets of old-fashioned, home-spun wisdom. poems: Babel’s Stair, 2006) excavates her past with the might of a backhoe and the finesse of an archaeologist’s brush. Janzen (English and Creating Writing/Hope Coll. The author takes stock of the tribulations, tragedy and hilarity that has shaped her experiences thus far, reexamining religious roots, familial influences and personal choices.

Mennonite in a black dress