Summary

In honest verse, Albanese exposes motherhood and the suburban lifestyle in a way not previously done in memoir by addressing the often unspoken--but deeply felt--feelings of inadequacy that come hand in hand with motherhood.

Prologue
Blue Suburbia, Aerial View	p. 3
Tales from Childhood
The Story of My Life	p. 7
219 Maple Street	p. 9
Five Best Ways to Maim a Man	p. 12
Sisters	p. 14
Second Thing	p. 16
Independence Day	p. 18
Just Shake, and Bake	p. 20
Sixth-Grade Infinity	p. 21
Catcher in the Rye	p. 23
I Wish	p. 24
Ignition
Ignition	p. 27
Motorcycle Matt	p. 29
Whiskey	p. 30
Suddenly Lisa	p. 32
Accident, Part I	p. 34
Accident, Part II	p. 35
Suicide	p. 37
Acceptance	p. 39
Five Words	p. 41
S.U.N.Y. College	p. 46
Life Lessons	p. 48
Manhattan Awakening
Job Interview	p. 53
The Test	p. 55
Prelude: In My Studio	p. 56
Real Men Don't Eat Quiche	p. 58
In the Museum of Modern Art	p. 60
Looking for Love
Nine Ways to Midnight	p. 65
Married Man	p. 67
Pregnant	p. 68
Hands	p. 70
Nick	p. 72
I Hid	p. 74
Leaving	p. 76
Embers	p. 77
A New Life
Solitaire Diamond	p. 83
Housekeeping	p. 85
The Next Generation	p. 86
Planting Bulbs	p. 88
Due Date	p. 90
We	p. 91
Dancing Baby	p. 92
Grandma	p. 93
Summer	p. 94
Minding My Own Business	p. 95
Man Enough	p. 96
Grief
Good-bye	p. 101
Housewife	p. 103
Multiplying	p. 105
Lives Collide	p. 106
"Good Night, Mom"	p. 108
How You Mourn a Mother	p. 110
When She Comes to Me	p. 111
Mirror	p. 112
Green Sleeves	p. 115
Losing My Way
My Road Not Taken	p. 119
Back East	p. 121
Fifteen-Year Cicadas	p. 122
Fight or Flee	p. 124
Six Months Later--	p. 126
Panic	p. 128
Endurance	p. 130
On the Couch	p. 132
The Doctor Helps Me See	p. 134
Out of the Blue
What Saved Me?	p. 139
Working Again	p. 142
The Fine Edge	p. 144
Sunday Afternoon	p. 146
Full Circle
Once	p. 151
The Woman Sets the Tone	p. 153
If I Didn't Have Children	p. 156
Cinderella	p. 158
Growing Pains
Growing Pains	p. 163
Oh Boy	p. 165
Jack Tries So Hard	p. 167
Please, Let Me In	p. 168
Lies We Tell Our Children	p. 171
Regrets	p. 173
Still, Joy
At the Dining Room Table	p. 177
Eye of the Self	p. 179
Dear Nick	p. 182
Thinking	p. 184
At Home	p. 185
Stolen Beauty	p. 187
Teaching Schoolchildren to Write About Snow	p. 189
Friends.com	p. 192
Ordinary	p. 193
Fate
The Sirens	p. 199
Hurry	p. 201
Epilogue
Moon over New York	p. 205
Author's Note	p. 207
Acknowledgments	p. 209
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

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Excerpts

Blue Suburbia
Almost a Memoir

The Story of My Life

First thing is the belt
worn soft from my father's pant loops
curling like a black eternity glyph
across my legs,
pliant back of my thighs,
hard shin of my calves

in bed, almost always in bed
almost always in the dark
the strap in his fist

or standing in the middle of my bedroom
drawing leather in a whisper
from the waist of his pants

at least three times a week
for five years or more
that's seven hundred times --
I know, he taught me math
the same way

because I was stubborn
he says, the belt was a mercy,
if I'd used my hands
I would have broken
your bones.

I love my father.

How can I tell the story of my life
without starting here?

Excerpted from Blue Suburbia: Almost a Memoir by Laurie Lico Albanese
All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.