In So Many Words: Three Years, Two Months, One Me - Paperback

by Mary Lou Sanelli (Author)

In this new collection of essays about living in the Northwest, Sanelli gives voice to the exquisite nuances of day-to-day life, as well as larger struggles we face, while always managing to leave us feeling less worried, certainly less alone, and much more hopeful. These relevant and frequently funny essays remind us that the simple act of paying attention to what happens around us (maybe put your phone down and look up?) can make a profound difference in how we view the world and ourselves. Sanelli has spent much of her writing career emphasizing what she believes-has always believed-that the most personal is the most universal. She writes on the basis of that. But even at her most serious, she never takes herself too seriously and what remains for the reader are insightful gems that shine light into the dark, as touching as they are wise.

"Sanelli writes with a voice that resonates with readers and neighbors. I hear often about how her topics seem to echo what's on someone's mind, telling stories with wit and charm that resonate in people's lives." -David Nelson, Editor, The Kitsap Sun

"Sanelli's writing is warm and engaging. It's easy to relate our own relationships with hers." -Sno-Isle Libraries, Washington

"Sanelli is an exceptional observer. Her writing is at once intellectually inviting and deeply personal." -The Seattle Weekly

"Sanelli brings a welcome sense of the very human. Her essays are communal moments of grace and connection." -Rick Simonson, Elliott Bay Book Company

"Sanelli's essays offer a sensitive look at life's tug-of-wars like those between age and time, male and female, place and belonging.'" -Knute Berger, Editor-at-large, Crosscut

"Sanelli's writing is a fine mixture of literary nonfiction and memoir that often, and honestly, examines the act of writing itself." -The Stranger, Seattle