Backwards reading

The Same River Twice
by Alice Walker

I'm probably one of the few people who would read a book that was about another book, before reading the first book (and yes, that sentence is confusing)!

I picked up a book by Alice Walker titled "The Same River Twice: Honoring the Difficult." I have to admit, that it was the subtitle on the book that attracted me -- I'd been a little stressed lately, and I was intrigued by the idea of "honoring the difficult" instead of cursing it.

Turns out the book was about Ms. Walker's life during the time that "The Color Purple," her Pulitzer-Prize winning book, was being filmed as a movie. Ms. Walker was ill from Lyme disease at the time, and the storm of praise and criticism she received from writing the book and turning it into the movie was almost more than she could handle.

Ms. Walker has a beautiful prose style that is easy to read, and although I had never read nor seen "The Color Purple," I continued reading this book.

Now that I know what her writing feels like, I will be seeking out more of it, and will be checking out "The Color Purple" soon.

If you want to read this book, you can find it on the 2nd Floor of the library, call number 813.54 WAL.

c Waterloo Public Library 2007