About this item
A fifty-year-old Bridge club provides an unexpected connection across a generational divide between mother and daughter. Betsy Lerner tells a funny, intimate, and deeply affecting story where we learn a little about Bridge and a lot about life.After a lifetime of defining herself against her mother's Don't Ask, Don't Tell generation, Lerner, an enthusiastic member of the Sex, Drugs, and Rock 'n' Roll generation, found herself back home in her suburban Connecticut town. It represented everything she had wanted to flee: namely the traditional life her mother stood for. Yet when Roz needed help after surgery, Betsy stepped in. She expected a week of tense civility; what she got were the Bridge Ladies. Impressed by their faithful visits and home-cooked meals, she saw something her own generation lacked: Facebook was great, but it wouldn't deliver a pot roast.
About the Author
How many writers does it take to screw in a light bulb?
Two.
One to screw it in, the other to say it was his idea first.
The Forest for the Trees is about what makes writers tick. It's not about how to write, or what to write, though I have strong opinions on those things. The chapters describe kinds of writers: ambivalent writers who can't get anything done, naturals (if they exist) , self promoters and sabateurs, neurotics, addicts, and wicked children (those who tell vs. good children who write nice prose, yawn) . The second half of the book is about inside publishing from my vantage point as an editor, author, and now as a sleaze bag, er, agent.
My blog is http://www.betsylerner.blog
Daily musings on publishing bile, writer misery, and hopelessness. It's fun.
I'm a recovered poet (card carrying Columbia MFA) , a former editor and now agent with Dunow, Carlson and Lerner Literary Agency. I represent amazing clients and you can check us out at dclagency.com
Thanks for reading. If you buy my book, The Forest for the Trees or my memoir, Food and Loathing (about food and loathing) , I will be very grateful.
