Reviewer Dan Mazzacane brings us our second book review for September, Seconds and Inches by Carly Israel. “Gratitude underlies the entirety of Seconds and Inches,” Mazzacane writes. Read the full review, available now.
Within the frenetic tempo of Carly Israel’s memoir, there are letters of gratitude for things one would expect—doctors, family members—and some they would not—bullies, cruel teachers. These letters act as the sinew of the book, connecting vignettes; brief moments that echo the disjointed rhythm of two lives lived second to second. First: her own, growing up an addict. Then: her child’s, born with a rare, potentially fatal disease. Mother, child, and letters blend together into an unerring refrain: gratitude. As Israel says herself, she learned to “see gratitude in any situation,” even nearly dying, through self-reflection and pain.
