Road Song: A Memoir

by Natalie Kusz

Overview

"Riveting—Kusz's gifts as a writer, her original voice and sparkling perceptions, give this memoir the literary precision of a novel."—Los Angeles Times
When she was six years old, Natalie Kusz left Los Angeles with her family and headed north to Alaska on a classic quest for freedom, a house on the land, and a more wholesome way of living. Here is hery and survival in an unforgiving environment. "Riveting. . . ."—Los Angeles Times. Serial rights to McCall's and Harper's.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780374528270
Publisher:	Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Publication date:	10/24/1990
Pages:	258
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.60(d)

Editorial Reviews

In 1969, at the age of six, the author and her three siblings moved from Los Angeles to Alaska with their parents, who longed to live in the wilderness. Beset by poverty and hardship during the first winter, they were also victims of tragedy when a neighbor's sled dog attacked Kusz and tore away one side of her face, including an eye. She recounts the story of the years that followed, when she underwent reconstructive surgery, became a teenage mother and with her family struggled to eke out an existence in a harsh and difficult environment. They endured the long Alaskan winters in a trailer, built a house and determinedly remained together as a family. Eschewing sentimentality and self-pity, Kusz paints a moving portrait of herself and her funny and heroic family in this engrossing, poetically written memoir. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

In 1969, when Kusz was six years old, she moved with her family from Los Angeles to Alaska, where they hoped to create an alternative homesteading lifestyle. So much for that idyll: within a year, Kusz was attacked by a neighbor's sled-dog, who tore away one side of her face, causing, among other injuries, the loss of an eye. Kusz was not expected to survive, but did; she underwent years of grueling surgery and recovery. Kusz not only survived but prevailed: she is a writer of exquisite grace and compelling voice. Only 27, Kusz has already been given a 1989 Whiting Writers Award and the 1990 General Electric Younger Writers Award for her work. This beautifully written memoir is a testament to the importance of family, honesty, courage, and hope. Very highly recommended.-- Anne Washburn, Smith, Helms, Mulliss & Moore Lib., Greensboro, N.C.

Library Journal