In One Era and Out the Other: Essays on Contemporary Life
Patricia Prattis Jennings, 2013
CreateSpace
302 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780615849904
Summary
From former Pittsburgh Post-Gazette contributor turned essayist comes this wide-ranging collection in which the author shares her views on the way life is now, sprinkled with reminiscences about the last several decades. Few other writers can glide so easily from fashion to football to fiction without missing a beat.
Covering a wide range of topics including culture, technology, politics, books, and music, Jennings expresses her views on everything from what's happened to air travel to the search for a perfect hairstylist.
Not afraid to tackle more serious topics, Jennings weighs in on racial attitudes in America and the election of Barack Obama. And when talk show host Dr. Laura Schlessinger lectures a black woman not to date outside her race if she can't "take the heat," Jennings shares her thoughts, as an African American woman married to a white man, not only with Dr. Laura but also with her readers.
Jennings's book will especially delight readers over thirty-five who have shared many of her experiences. Part memoir, part commentary, In One Era and Out the Other is a sophisticated and amusing chronology of anecdotes and opinions about events of the second half of the twentieth century and the first decade of the twenty-first century and the new millennium.
Author Bio
• Birth—July 16, 1941
• Where—Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
• Education—M.A., Carnegie Mellon University
• Currently—Rosslyn Farms (Carnegie), Pennsylvania
Retired keyboardist of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Jennings' writing career began with a four-part series for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, "Symphony Diary," while on tour with the orchestra in Europe in 1994.
That experience has evolved into nearly two decades of essays in which she shares her observations on everything from fashion to how the Internet impacts the American family. Her essays have appeared in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Symphony magazine, and various Western Pennsylvania-based publications. From 1988 to 1994 she was the publisher/editor of Symphonium, a newsletter for and about the professional African-American symphony musician. (From the author.)
Book Reviews
The following comments come from Amazon customer reviews:
A delightful read which I will read again and again.
You bring together so many different elements, all very interestingly explored, commented upon and philosophized about!
I don't know when I have laughed so much—your book is great! Can't wait for the next one.
What I, and probably many others, like so much about your writing is that you could have been writing about me.
Discussion Questions
1. How well does the author chronicle the changes in our culture that have taken place in your lifetime?
2. What did you learn that you didn’t know before?
3. Does the author strike a proper balance between serious and less serious topics?
4. What about this book do you think men might enjoy?
5. Does the author describe situations that ring true to your life but that you’ve never quite put into words?
6. Do the topics strike a proper balance considering that the author is a woman but also an African-American woman?
7. Has anything in the book encouraged you to make positive changes in your life?
8. Would you trust the author’s book and movie recommendations?
(Questions provided courtesy of the author.)