Textbook Amy Krouse Rosenthal

by Amy Krouse Rosenthal Narrated by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, John Green

Overview

The bestselling author of Encyclopedia an Ordinary Life returns with a literary experience that is unprecedented, unforgettable, and explosively human.*
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Ten years after her beloved, groundbreaking Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life, #1*New York Times*bestselling author Amy*Krouse Rosenthal delivers a book full of her distinct blend of nonlinear narrative, wistful reflections, and insightful wit. It is a mighty, life-affirming work that sheds light on all the ordinary and extraordinary ways we are connected.
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Like she did with Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life, Amy Krouse Rosenthal ingeniously adapts a standard format-a textbook, this time-to explore life's lessons and experiences into a funny, wise, and poignant work of art. Not exactly a memoir, not just a collection of observations,*Textbook Amy Krouse Rosenthal*is a beautiful exploration into the many ways we are connected on this planet and*speaks to the awe, bewilderment, and poignancy of being alive.

Includes a bonus PDF with photographs, illustrations, texting guides, and more

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“...a groundbreaking new twist on the traditional literary experience... Textbook is a delightful collection of interesting scenarios that directly point to life lessons. Rosenthal manages to spotlight grand moments and everyday moments with equal curiosity, proving that it can be both a privilege - and petrifying - to peek into one's humanity.”-Associated Press
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“Rosenthal is a marvel... a talented storyteller with an experimental flair for formatting... This engaging, playful, and clever glimpse into one woman's life offers lots of photographs, graphic illustrations, and diagrams, resulting in a book that will make readers smile as their notions of story delivery expand.”*-Booklist

Editorial Reviews

SEPTEMBER 2016 - AudioFile

An interactive memoir with the organization of a textbook, including multiple-choice questions and quizzes? The creative humor of Amy K.R. (as she calls herself) leaps beyond the traditional memoir and establishes views of life that are relatable and enlightening. In both writing and reading, content and presentation, Amy KR’s awareness of audience is far reaching. Her leaps of association are surprising and pleasing. How does all this translate from the page? Beautifully. Rosenthal’s intonations emphasize her wit—she even pauses to give listeners texting opportunities. Embedded in the audio are quirky extras such as a master sommelier’s rendition of a humming wine glass. This audiobook goes beyond any other in its power to connect the listener to the material. S.W. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine

From the Publisher

…a groundbreaking new twist on the traditional literary experience… Textbook is a delightful collection of interesting scenarios that directly point to life lessons. Rosenthal manages to spotlight grand moments and everyday moments with equal curiosity, proving that it can be both a privilege — and petrifying — to peek into one’s humanity.”
—Associated Press

“[Textbook Amy Krouse Rosenthal is] as beautiful, thrilling, brief, sad, and quotidian as a sunset.”
—Fast Company

"Textbook Amy Krouse Rosenthal, subtitled Not Exactly a Memoir, is quirky, rambling and funny, as befits a children’s book author. Poems, photos, drawings and musings add up to a charming but gently incisive experience—and the most simply exquisite ending." 
—Family Circle

“Textbook Amy Krouse Rosenthal: Not Exactly a Memoir leaps beyond traditional books in structure and offers engaging views of life that are relatable, intriguing and enlightening… Rosenthal’s vivid wondering and quirky views present a textbook case of someone who understands that her next adventure is just around the corner.”
—Raleigh News & Observer

“...episodic, funny, and highly visual” —EntertainmentWeekly.com
“Rosenthal is a marvel… a talented storyteller with an experimental flair for formatting… This engaging, playful, and clever glimpse into one woman’s life offers lots of photographs, graphic illustrations, and diagrams, resulting in a book that will make readers smile as their notions of story delivery expand.” 
—Booklist

“Part memoir, part art instillation... More than an intriguing concept, [Textbook Amy Krouse Rosenthal] is an artful arrangement of image and text and a compelling read. An abundant use of white space reveals that Rosenthal is unafraid to take breaths between thoughts. In doing so, she gives her audience the same generous opportunity, pairing the best of what print and digital have to offer: narrative for contemplation and online interaction for community. Readers will want to return to this book again and also share it with those they love best.”
—Library Journal

"Part memoir, part interactive art piece, part, well, textbook, children’s author Amy Krouse Rosenthal’s latest grown-up offering delights the reader with a series of musings, drawings, photos, music, graphs, and even a bracket bracket where [ ] faces off against { } under section headings like Social Studies, Language Arts, and Math."
—RealSimple.com

Library Journal

★ 07/01/2016
In today's digital age, with its ever mounting distractions, Rosenthal's (Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life) newest work offers some optimism for how reflection, curiosity, and imagination can be sustained. A testament to the notion that books and technology don't have to be at odds, this part memoir, part art installation offers a series of vignettes (personal anecdotes, observations, drawings, and photographs) divided into different subjects reminiscent of a high school "textbook." Yet, as Rosenthal poses questions and encourages readers to respond via text messaging, it is also a "text book." The author collects and shares outside contributions on her website, extending the conversation beyond the book. More than an intriguing concept, it is an artful arrangement of image and text and a compelling read. An abundant use of white space reveals that Rosenthal is unafraid to take breaths between thoughts. In doing so, she gives her audience the same generous opportunity, pairing the best of what print and digital have to offer: narrative for contemplation and online interaction for community. VERDICT Readers will want to return to this book again and also share it with those they love best. [See Prepub Alert, 2/8/16.]—Meagan Lacy, Guttman Community Coll., CUNY

SEPTEMBER 2016 - AudioFile

An interactive memoir with the organization of a textbook, including multiple-choice questions and quizzes? The creative humor of Amy K.R. (as she calls herself) leaps beyond the traditional memoir and establishes views of life that are relatable and enlightening. In both writing and reading, content and presentation, Amy KR’s awareness of audience is far reaching. Her leaps of association are surprising and pleasing. How does all this translate from the page? Beautifully. Rosenthal’s intonations emphasize her wit—she even pauses to give listeners texting opportunities. Embedded in the audio are quirky extras such as a master sommelier’s rendition of a humming wine glass. This audiobook goes beyond any other in its power to connect the listener to the material. S.W. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine

Kirkus Reviews

2016-05-31
Ephemera from the life of a children's book author.In her latest book for grown-ups, Rosenthal (Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life, 2005, etc.) again organizes stories of her life into something like a reference book or textbook. The author largely eschews written narrative in favor of a broad smattering of tables, graphs, drawings, photos, a guitar chord progression, a recipe, a dream, a Venn diagram, and more. Section headings like Geography, History, and Math divide and contain these tidbits along with mildly interesting thoughts and anecdotes: a moment's conjecture at who her husband is on the phone with, her faulty interpretation of a magazine article, her decision to leave an unopened packet of honey on the passenger-side floor of her car. One page reads, "When I came back from India, I was absolutely, positively 100% sure I was going to use a lot of turmeric." The book is light; white space abounds. Perhaps aware of this, Rosenthal leaps from the page into her readers' digital lives, inviting them to text her for various multimedia experiences: three audio renditions of a humming wineglass or a poem read by the deceased poet Kenneth Koch. There is one anomalous short story in the Romance section that, despite its brevity (or because of it), is a moving tale of life, love, and anagrams. Readers who approach this book as a collection of thought experiments will find intermittent inspiration. Photos of two ice cubes—one from the waters of Lake Michigan, the other containing tea from a restaurant—poignantly commemorate moments with her children, and in "The Piñata Experiment," the author instructs the reader to hang a candy-filled piñata near a baseball field and wait for the object's discovery by Little Leaguers serendipitously wielding baseball bats. Long on inventiveness but short on substance.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940169323429
Publisher:	Penguin Random House
Publication date:	08/09/2016
Edition description:	Unabridged

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