Portrait of My Body

Rating:
Summary: America's Essayist Laureate scores
Review: To read anything by Philip Lopate is a privilege. To sit at his feet in a seminar is an honor. I had that experience at a writing conference in Santa Fe about 4 years ago, and it was a very powerful catalyst to my own writing career. The man is a consummate teacher, wise, witty, and wonderful.
So is this book. A collection of 13 essays, Portrait of My Body is an honest delving into the depths of 'self.' Read it for many reasons. Read it to learn more about Lopate himself, and in the process you will learn more about yourself. Read it to learn a subtle but strong lesson on the craft of writing the personal essay. Read it to learn a contrarian Jew's take on the "Holocaust rhetoric." Read it most of all to get a peek into long-time and avowed bachelor Lopate's wry and sweetly resigned dive into marriage and fatherhood.
Whatever. Just read it.