{"product_id":"learning-to-drive-and-other-life-stories-paperback","title":"Learning to Drive: And Other Life Stories - Paperback","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eKatha Pollitt\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eLearning to Drive\u003c\/i\u003e - Now a major motion picture starring Patricia Clarkson and Ben Kingsley\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eCelebrated for her award-winning political columns, criticism, and poetry, Katha Pollitt now shows us another side of her talent. \u003ci\u003eLearning to Drive\u003c\/i\u003e is a surprising, revealing, and entertaining collection of essays drawn from the author's own life. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e With deep feeling and sharp insight, Pollitt writes about the death of her father; the sad but noble final days of a leftist study group of which she was a member; and the betrayal and heartbreak inflicted by a man who seriously deceived her. (Her infinitely patient, gentle driving instructor points out her weakness--\"Observation, Katha, observation!\") She also offers a candid view of her preoccupation with her ex-lover's haunting presence on the Internet, and her search there for a secret link that might provide a revelation about him that will Explain Everything. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Other topics include the differences between women and men--\"More than half the male members of the Donner party died of cold and starvation, but three quarters of the females survived, saved by that extra layer of fat we spend our lives trying to get rid of\"--and the practical implications of political theory: \"What if socialism--all that warmhearted folderol about community and solidarity and sharing was just an elaborate con job, a way for men to avoid supporting their kids?\" \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003ci\u003eLearning to Drive\u003c\/i\u003e demonstrates that while Katha Pollitt is undeniably one of our era's most profound observers of culture, society, and politics, she is just as impressively a wise, graceful, and honest observer of her own and others' human nature. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003ePraise for \u003ci\u003eLearning to Drive\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \"The kind of book you want to look up from at points so you can read aloud certain passages to a friend or lover.\"\u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003eChicago Tribune\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \"A powerful personal narrative . . . full of insight and charm . . . Pollitt is her own Jane Austen character . . . haughty and modest, moral and irresponsible, sensible and, happily for us, lost in sensibility.\"\u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003eThe New York Review of Books\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \"With . . . bracing self-honesty, Pollitt takes us through the maddening swirl of contradictions at the heart of being fifty-something: the sense of slowing down, of urgency, of wisdom, of ignorance, of strength, of helplessness, of breakdown, of renewal.\"\u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003eThe Seattle Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \"Essays of breathtaking candor and razor-sharp humor . . . [Pollitt] has outdone herself. . . . [Her] observations are acute and her confessions tonic. Forget face-lifts; Pollitt's essays elevate the spirit.\"\u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003eBooklist \u003c\/i\u003e(starred review)\u003c\/b\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eKatha Pollitt\u003c\/b\u003e is the author of the essay collections \u003ci\u003eLearning to Drive, Virginity or Death!, Subject to Debate, \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eReasonable Creatures\u003c\/i\u003e and is a poet, essayist, and columnist for \u003ci\u003eThe Nation\u003c\/i\u003e. She has won many prizes and awards for her work, including the National Book Critics Circle Award for her first collection of poems, \u003ci\u003eAntarctic Traveller, \u003c\/i\u003eand two National Magazine Awards for essays and criticism. She lives in New York City.\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 224\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.58 x 8.27 x 4.98 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e September 09, 2008\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43156712980543,"sku":"9780812973549","price":21.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0105\/8226\/1823\/files\/Aob-hDNlYQ9780812973549.webp?v=1776974571","url":"https:\/\/dhl-adrianne.myshopify.com\/products\/learning-to-drive-and-other-life-stories-paperback","provider":"BBB","version":"1.0","type":"link"}