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Audiobook4 hours
New Life, No Instructions: A Memoir
Published by Penguin Random House Audio
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
4/5
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About this audiobook
The Pulitzer Prize winner and New York Times bestselling author of Let's Take the Long Way Home now gives us a stunning, exquisitely written memoir about a dramatic turning point in her life, which unexpectedly opened up a world of understanding, possibility, and connection. New Life, No Instructions is about the surprising way life can begin again, at any age.
"What do you do when the story changes in midlife? When a tale you have told yourself turns out to be a little untrue, just enough to throw the world off-kilter? It's like leaving the train at the wrong stop: You are still you, but in a new place, there by accident or grace, and you will need your wits about you to proceed.
"Any change that matters, or takes, begins as immeasurably small. Then it accumulates, moss on stone, and after a few thousand years of not interfering, you have a glen, or a waterfall, or a field of hope where sorrow used to be.
"I suppose all of us consider our loved ones extraordinary; that is one of the elixirs of attachment. But over the months of pain and disrepair of that winter, I felt something that made the grimness tolerable: I felt blessed by the tribe I was part of. Here I was, supposedly solo, and the real truth was that I had a force field of connection surrounding me.
"Most of all I told this story because I wanted to say something about hope and the absence of it, and how we keep going anyway. About second chances, and how they're sometimes buried amid the dross, even when you're poised for the downhill grade. The narrative can always turn out to be a different story from what you expected."
Praise for New Life, No Instructions
"Brimming with insights and wisdom . . . As far as I'm concerned, Caldwell can write about whatever she pleases. . . . Unabashed dispatches from lifelong single women are a fairly recent phenomenon. Caldwell has so much more to teach us."-Kate Bolick, The New York Times Book Review
"Gail Caldwell offers the kind of wisdom and grace you'd wish a friend, sister, or mother might deliver. . . . Fans and new readers alike will find comfort in Caldwell's voice."-The Boston Globe
"Quiet but powerful . . . an absorbing meditation on grief and rebirth in midlife."-More
"Eloquent and uplifting . . . [a story] to inspire you."-Good Housekeeping
"Graceful and reflective."-USA Today
"[Caldwell] confronts, with pluck and fortitude, the hurdles that life throws her way."-Publishers Weekly
"An uplifting journey . . . This book celebrates finding support where you least expect it."-Woman's Day
"[A] beautifully written memoir."-Parade
"[A] thoughtful, wide-eyed view of the world . . . [Caldwell] ably explores the shifts of our hearts."-Kirkus Reviews
"Getting old, as they say, is not for sissies, and no one would call Pulitzer Prize-winner Caldwell a wimp. . . . There may not have been a road map for the life-changing trip [she] was about to take, but . . . Caldwell realized she had the power to endure."-Booklist
"What do you do when the story changes in midlife? When a tale you have told yourself turns out to be a little untrue, just enough to throw the world off-kilter? It's like leaving the train at the wrong stop: You are still you, but in a new place, there by accident or grace, and you will need your wits about you to proceed.
"Any change that matters, or takes, begins as immeasurably small. Then it accumulates, moss on stone, and after a few thousand years of not interfering, you have a glen, or a waterfall, or a field of hope where sorrow used to be.
"I suppose all of us consider our loved ones extraordinary; that is one of the elixirs of attachment. But over the months of pain and disrepair of that winter, I felt something that made the grimness tolerable: I felt blessed by the tribe I was part of. Here I was, supposedly solo, and the real truth was that I had a force field of connection surrounding me.
"Most of all I told this story because I wanted to say something about hope and the absence of it, and how we keep going anyway. About second chances, and how they're sometimes buried amid the dross, even when you're poised for the downhill grade. The narrative can always turn out to be a different story from what you expected."
Praise for New Life, No Instructions
"Brimming with insights and wisdom . . . As far as I'm concerned, Caldwell can write about whatever she pleases. . . . Unabashed dispatches from lifelong single women are a fairly recent phenomenon. Caldwell has so much more to teach us."-Kate Bolick, The New York Times Book Review
"Gail Caldwell offers the kind of wisdom and grace you'd wish a friend, sister, or mother might deliver. . . . Fans and new readers alike will find comfort in Caldwell's voice."-The Boston Globe
"Quiet but powerful . . . an absorbing meditation on grief and rebirth in midlife."-More
"Eloquent and uplifting . . . [a story] to inspire you."-Good Housekeeping
"Graceful and reflective."-USA Today
"[Caldwell] confronts, with pluck and fortitude, the hurdles that life throws her way."-Publishers Weekly
"An uplifting journey . . . This book celebrates finding support where you least expect it."-Woman's Day
"[A] beautifully written memoir."-Parade
"[A] thoughtful, wide-eyed view of the world . . . [Caldwell] ably explores the shifts of our hearts."-Kirkus Reviews
"Getting old, as they say, is not for sissies, and no one would call Pulitzer Prize-winner Caldwell a wimp. . . . There may not have been a road map for the life-changing trip [she] was about to take, but . . . Caldwell realized she had the power to endure."-Booklist
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Reviews for New Life, No Instructions
Rating: 3.7874974999999997 out of 5 stars
4/5
40 ratings6 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5It took me a little bit to get into this book, but once I did I loved it. This beautifully written memoir recounts the mid-life crisis the author felt when her physical health deteriorated to the point that she feared for her future mobility and independence. Ms. Caldwell faced these issues while still dealing with the death of her mother, and of a beloved dog. Her strong circle of friends, family, and a new pet in her life, helped support her during this episode. But her strong determination to regain lost strength and function were the most impactful part of the story for me. I read this while facing some physical challenges and similar fears of my own, and Gail Caldwell's hard work to enhance her recovery were inspiring, and helped me to remind myself to keep working diligently.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Three years ago, I listened to Gail Caldwell's memoir about the loss of a dear friend - Let's Take the Long Way Home. I found her voice honest. She cut to the heart of a difficult time, finding words to explain it that were uniquely hers, but also hauntingly universal. The same was true of her latest memoir, New Life, No Instructions. The focus of this book is her hip replacement surgery, caused by complications from childhood polio. Without family close by, Gail relies on a collection of friends to help her through the decision to have the surgery and the rehabilitation afterward. She describes the despair she felt when her beloved dog Tula was scared of her (with her strange smells and movements) after surgery, and the challenges of getting used to her lengthened leg. Again, it was not the events that were described in this book that were so striking. Instead, it was Gail's voice, her honesty about the joys and the pains of her life, that kept me engaged. In the end, it felt like the end of a visit with a good friend.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A big 'Thank You' to NetGalley for an e-copy of this latest book by Gail Caldwell.This is the second book I've read by this author and I have thoroughly enjoyed both of them. She's an expert at getting her point across using plain English, no bad language, and exceptional prose.Ms. Caldwell can take ordinary happenings in life, or not so ordinary in her case in this book, and writes a story that leaves me wanting more. She has suffered immeasurable loss in recent years and writing about it seems to make her an even stronger writer.In this memoir, she must undergo a total hip replacement after suffering so much pain for most of her life due to polio as an infant. She includes her friends, her doctors, and of course, her new dog, and weaves this situation into a story with many beautiful passages. There is also emphasis on her parents, especially her mother, an extraordinary woman who helped Gail in many ways.I love to read this remarkable author and will patiently await her next novel/memoir.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5To take walking for granted is to fail to appreciate how integral it is to our lives and to our image of ourselves. This is a rewarding read for anyone who has struggled with pain and rehabilitation.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5I haven't read any of the author's other books, and that may be the reason why I didn't love it.
I found the writing to be disjointed and jumping around between past and present too much, so that I got lost in what the author was trying to say.
I found that a shame, because some portions of the book were truly moving and interesting, but it lacked cohesiveness for me. - Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I love Gail Caldwell.I first realized this while reading Let’s Take the Long Way Home: A Memoir of Friendship, which is about the death of her best friend, fellow memoirist Caroline Knapp. (You can read that review here. Or the review of Caroline’s memoir here.) She just seems so down-to-earth, wise, insightful. She’s overcome her share of hardships. She’s interesting. As I believe I mentioned in my review of Let’s Take the Long Way Home, I feel I have a lot in common with Gail. Both lovers of books, dogs, and solitude, I think in a different life we would have been good friends.I wasn’t sure what New Life, No Instructions was about; the flap text was very vague and danced around the book’s actual premise without stating it directly. So, I’ll tell you here: this memoir is about Gail’s hip replacement surgery. Which, to be honest, does sound less than exciting when I say it like that. But the story is about much more than that: her childhood polio; her new dog, Tula; her mother; her rowing. It’s a beautiful memoir about support systems, human-canine relationships, physical decline, and healing. It’s about reorienting yourself, your perspective, and your life when things change–when you get a new dog, when you lose a friend or a parent, or when your bum leg is lengthened.It doesn’t matter if you’re sixty years old and getting your own hip replaced or twenty-five with perfect joints; there’s something in this memoir for everyone.