Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Patty, a former Crown executive editor and the founder of Poseidon Press, vivaciously recounts her embrace of Latin and the manifold ways it reshaped her life. Retiring from full-time work after 35 years as a book editor, she took a part-time editorial position, moved to a country house in upstate New York, and began studying Zen. However, Patty found it hard to relax and felt anxious about how she was going to fill her time. She decided to take a college course in Latin-a subject she last studied in the seventh grade. After some research, Patty found a beginning class at Vassar College and threw herself into her studies with passion. Hers is not a story of easy success-she becomes anxious and angry with herself when she fails to grasp a concept or translate a sentence correctly-but Patty's love of language and desire to stave off ennui bolster her. She eventually translates the poetry of Catullus and Ovid, discovering how the latter "makes Latin dance." This captivating and charming memoir shows how the study of Latin can be "another form of meditation... another way of slowing down." Agent: Meg Ruley, Janet Rotrosen Agency. (June) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
After an illustrious career in publishing, discovering authors such as V.C. Andrews, Patty retired to the country and, realizing she needed to keep her mind active, embarked on a quest to learn Latin. She tackled this as doggedly as anyone could, over a five-year period, taking classes at Vassar College and Bard College, eventually enlisting in immersion weekends and study abroad (in Rome, no less). Along the way, readers who love language and words are treated to a minute dissection of the grammar, use, and history of Latin. Those confused by noun declensions or harassed by tenses might gloss over those parts. For true philologists, this will be like nectar to bees. Patty mixes her language study with snippets of memoir; her desire to learn Latin rooted in memories of her mother. This highly personal story includes fascinating bits about the inner workings of publishing and religion and meditation practices. VERDICT A solid addition to collections that see heavy use in the language reference or memoir categories.-Linda White, Maplewood, MN © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
How Latin, "an undead language," has enlivened the author's life. In 2008, after being laid off from her position as a book editor, 58-year-old Patty retreated to her home in rural Rhinebeck, New York, where she quickly became bored. After 34 years in publishing, including founding The Poseidon Press, the author missed the social and literary stimulation of her former life. A lover of "words, grammar, books, language," she decided to fill a gap in her knowledge by learning Latin. In her bright, amusing debut memoir, Patty recounts the challenges and many rewards of her project as well as her transformation from successful career woman to aging retiree. In her first semester at Vassar, Patty was confronted with Latin's mind-boggling complexities: five declensions of nouns, 38 inflections, four conjugations of verbs in six tenses, which themselves comprised 288 possible inflections. Nevertheless, she persisted with enthusiasm. A bubbly talker, she shared her newfound knowledge with friends, until she noticed their eye-rolling: "You know, Ann, not everybody cares about these things," one friend remarked. Unfortunately, Patty shows no restraint in this memoir, including long stretches on vocabulary, grammar, and syntax. The subjunctive, the ablative absolute, the active and passive periphrastics, "the supine, the middle-voice verb, the little-used locative case, and the historical infinitive"all make their ways into the book. Happily, grammar and translationof Catullus, Ovid, Horace, and Virgiloften evoke Patty's memories of two divorces, her tender friendship with a gay man who died of AIDS, the scandal that caused her to lose her imprint, her bout with "a very scary, invasive cancer," and reflections about her mother, who had encouraged her to study Latin, "something she herself had loved." A mostly lively portrait of a woman's language-inspired metamorphosis. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
