Grand A memoir

A comedian and Emmy-winning TV writer recounts her whitewater rafting journey through the Grand Canyon and her struggles with unresolved family issues. In her 40th year, Schaefer decided to take members of her family on individual vacations, culminating in a rigorous guided rafting journey down the Colorado River with her younger sister, Ross. At the outset, she confesses to having a deep fear of rafting, and she shows how their eight-day adventure evolved into a series of challenging feats, both physically and psychologically. In alternating chapters, Schaefer delves into her past, beginning with a pivotal event from her childhood when her father confessed to his family and community that he'd been embezzling clients' funds from his business. This led to significant downsizing from their affluent way of life while the family's reputation would be forever tainted in their community, and the revelation dramatically affected Schaefer's future. "Inside of me," she writes, "the story got smaller and closer together as I memorized an easily digestible version of what had happened. Dad became his own cautionary tale. He had made a lot of bad choices. Then, he had made a crucially good one by telling the truth. Mom forgave. Jesus forgave. We forgave. That's a wrap, folks!...I swore to myself that I would never repeat his mistakes, and the lesson set permanently inside me like a bone healing out of place." In addition to chronicling her adventures on the river, she examines, with varying levels of insight, family relationships, intimate relations, professional achievements and setbacks, and, more recently, her deeply felt loss after her mother's death. Though the book contains passages of vivid storytelling, both on and off the river, the narrative is overly angst-driven and heavy-handed--more leavening humor from this talented comedy writer would have been welcome--and her many underlying issues ultimately feel unsettled. An uneven exploration of family bonds and the pursuit of identity and self-esteem. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.