A Little More about Me

I am ashamed to say I had forgotten about Pam Houston.I read "Cowboys Are My Weakness" back in '92 when it came out and then let this author fall out of my library, until recently when I stumbled (actually tripped in the bookstore) and into the table with this book on it.What more can I say than... This book is wonderful! The prose is simple and elegant, the sentiment is raw and truthful, the stories are humorous and strike a chord in the soul.Ms. Houston writes of her travels, revelations, dogs, men, landscape, body image in such a way that I was not able to put the book down. In fact, I found myself stealing into my office for any scrap of time to finish a chapter, a sentence, the entire book in a day.My recommendation for "A Little More About Me": read it, own it, buy it for a friend!

I had never heard of Pam Houston before I saw this book. Her grasp of language, her personality, and experiences in the world transfixed me. I could not put the book down. It was like I was on every plane ride, rafting trip and hike with her; sharing her emotions and reactions to the world around her. I find this book to be one of my all time favorites. If you enjoy first hand accounts of adventurous lives, as well as a stimulating use of language, sharp wit, and a personal vulnerability evidenced in the writing, you will thoroughly enjoy this autobiography!

I have read, re-read, and often recommended Pam Houston's book "Cowboys Are My Weakness," so it was with a shudder of anticipation that I found her newest book "A Little More About Me" on the table at my local bookseller. Sure, this book is about her (for those other reviewers who missed the point...). But the book manages to be about her, and also about me, and countless other women as well. Through the course of rich and vivid descriptions of her adventures - essays that so often read like long poems - I realized that (once again) Houston is holding a mirror up to womankind and challenging us to recognize the quirks and patterns that have driven us throughout history. Houston's attraction to danger, her need to please men who prove to be inconsequential, her celebration of female friendship and fascination with the inner workings of the opposite sex, and her desire to detail every meal cooked and eaten at trail's end all feel familiar to me. I loved "In the Company of Fishermen". It made me wish I could be there, fishing alongside them. I read it out loud to my three-year-old son, who remained mesmerized to the end. I was glad to be able to give him a great story about men who remain friends, about a brave woman, and to show him that fishermen can be poets, and the reverse as well. Outside her adventures, Houston's writing is sprinkled with references to so many of my favorite things - movies, books, songs, and foods - that it makes it hard NOT to take her writing personally. To the reader looking for a simple adventure tale: Houston's self-disclosure will make you uncomfortable, guaranteed. Even though I'm interested in what makes Houston tick, I found myself a little unnerved by her descriptions of her childhood. This took the form of the sort of discomfort one feels when a co-worker tells you more than you need to know about their home life. I was stunned her find her chapter detailing her weight and body issues, and yet by the end I was as delighted as I would be if Self magazine called me up tomorrow to tell me I had the ideal body type for the new millennium and asked me to share my diet and exercise secrets (unlikely). So much of this rang true and hit home like a very pointed arrow. Parts of this book made me sorry for Houston and the things she has experienced, but I never felt pity, just the sort of sorry understanding one has for a friend who pulled the short straw and still persevered. At the end I wished I could meet Houston, spend some time with her, maybe drink a little tequila and invite her to help me climb Shasta on my 40th birthday. But realistically, I'm looking for a simple, smooth, safe climb with a great view - no search parties involved. I look forward to more of Houston's writing and will seek out her essays in periodicals as well. She manages to take me away from my own life (differenly colored than hers, and not nearly as dangerous) and still, somehow, bring me home. This was

Pam Houston never ceases to amaze me. Her life struggles are those that many women can really relate to, and I find myself thinking "yes!, yes!" as her stories unwind. I think she is one of the most honest and touching authors I have had the pleasure of reading about. (And to those other reviewers that say she is self-absorbed....the book is entitled "A Little More About Me"....go figure!) And go Pam Houston! Looking forward to the next one.