Pieces of Someday

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Overview

At the age of forty-four, Jan Vallone is everything her Italian American parents brought her up to be-a lawyer, wife and mother who owns a vintage home and takes European vacations. But instead of feeling happy and successful, she's consumed by frustration and anxiety that threaten to shatter her marriage and have dimmed her faith. Discarding prosperity and prestige, she takes a job teaching English at a yeshiva-an Orthodox Jewish high school-though she was raised Catholic. There, she opens her heart to her students, who bloom under her tutelage and teach her the meaning of faith and fulfillment.
Set in New York, Seattle and Italy, Pieces of Someday portrays how one woman fuses the facets of her life-family, career, ethnicity, spirituality and dreams-into a cohesive picture as luminous as stained glass.
From Reviewers Pieces of Someday is a gripping chronicle of one woman's disappointments and blessings. In this striking debut, Jan Vallone writes with tenderness, wisdom, and humor about family, faith, and legacies, and finding a place in the world.
-Jocelyn Lieu, author of What Isn't There: Inside a Season of Change Jan Vallone's memoir is something rare: a story that is deeply personal, and yet one that will resonate with countless contemporary women seeking some deeper gratification beneath the surface of success. Her candor and her pointillist's eye for detail emerge in writing crafted with power and precision.
-David Sobel, editor and writer, instructor at Eugene Lang College, The New School

Vallone's prose shifts and gleams as surely and mysteriously as kaleidoscopic light.
-Dani Boss, teacher, author of the memoir Little America

Pieces of Someday is a beautifully-written account of fathers and daughters, teachers and students, successes and failures-the wonderful offspring of what Vallone calls her "dominant ponder gene." Holding up a defiant hand against the cynicism that has come to mark so much of America's story, she insists that the greatest success may be measured, not in the things we accumulate, but in the lives we touch.
-Les Lamkin, teacher, author of the fiction collection Happiness is a Dead Wife

Jan Vallone pulls our common experience into her personal memoir by weaving surprises through every chapter-some challenging, some unsettling, some smashing into truth, others gently leading to revelation.
- Gwen Mansfield, teacher, author of the novel Experiment Station Road I laughed, I cried-mostly I related. Pieces of Someday is unflinching-a heart-wrenching memoir about one woman's battle against expectations. With this book, Jan Vallone brings light into the world and shows you've got to believe in people.
-Isla McKetta, editor of Forum Magazine

A gripping and earnest account of one woman's search for what truly matters in life.
-Roxana Arama

I was at once seized by this book. The story of Vallone's life in New York, Seattle and Italy is one to which every hungry reader can relate. Vallone's work is joyful, impassioned, and endearing; her book is truly a celebration of her life as a teacher, her reverence for tradition, and the embracing of multicultural paths.
-Julie Greene, author of the memoir This Hunger Is Secret: My Journeys through Mental Illness and Wellness. http://juliemadblogger.wordpress.com

Vallone's life blooms on these pages like the flowers in her garden-fragrant, colorful, real.
-David Berg, computer technician and musician

What People Are Saying

Dani Boss

"Vallone's prose shifts and gleams as surely and mysteriously as kaleidoscopic light."--(Dani Boss, teacher, author of the memoir Little America)

David Sobel

"Jan Vallone's memoir is something rare: a story that is deeply personal, and yet one that will resonate with countless contemporary women seeking some deeper gratification beneath the surface of success. Her candor and her pointillist's eye for detail emerge in writing crafted with power and precision."--(David Sobel, editor and writer, instructor at Eugene Lang College, The New School)

Jocelyn Lieu

"Pieces of Someday is a gripping chronicle of one woman's disappointments and blessings. In this striking debut, Jan Vallone writes with tenderness, wisdom, and humor about family, faith, and legacies, and finding a place in the world."--(Jocelyn Lieu, author of What Isn't There: Inside a Season of Change)

Les Lamkin

"Pieces of Someday is a beautifully-written account of fathers and daughters, teachers and students, successes and failures-the wonderful offspring of what Vallone calls her "dominant ponder gene." Holding up a defiant hand against the cynicism that has come to mark so much of America's story, she insists that the greatest success may be measured, not in the things we accumulate, but in the lives we touch."--(Les Lamkin, teacher, author of the fiction collection Happiness is a Dead Wife)

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780982102350
Publisher: Gemelli Press
Publication date: 1/4/2010
Pages: 220
Sales rank: 1,183,109
Product dimensions: 8.50 (w) x 5.50 (h) x 0.50 (d)

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bleeding_espresso

Posted May 5, 2011

more from this reviewer

Lyrical and lovely

Pieces of Someday, the memoir of Jan Vallone, tells the story of an Italian-American woman who, after decades of striving to fulfill the wishes of her parents, comes to realize that she hasn't yet discovered her true self.

So, at age 44, Jan leaves her law practice to teach English in a yeshiva high school - perhaps a curious career move for a Catholic lawyer, but there's no doubt that for Jan, a whole new journey had begun. Jan's search to balance her career and family with her own individual pursuit of happiness had been a lifelong struggle, but once she began following her heart, good things followed.

The book takes us through Jan's life in New York, Seattle, and various trips to Italy - and she never skims over the difficult parts, namely a strained relationship with her father, marital problems, infertility, and struggles with her own faith. Instead, Jan carries us with her through her conflicting emotions and values, often with a sense of dry humor that I found entirely relatable.

Jan's word selection is superb and her rich descriptions pick up the reader and gently drop her into each scene. One of my favorites is toward the end of the book when Jan and her family go to Sicily to see the remembrance of her grandmother that, as family legend had it, her grandfather had erected back in their small village of Castelvetrano:

"We walked silent, filed around it, skirting a rusty railing collapsed at its feet. The grotto - ivy shrouded, suckers crumbling its surface, shoot tips tasseling its mouth. Inside, bird-soiled Mary prayed with fingerless rosary-strung hands, and the altar, sooty, fractured, was ankle-deep in trash. Outside in the porcelain photo, my grandmother, half my age, smiled above the tarnished plaque. . . ."

I give Pieces of Someday four espresso cups out of five and recommend it to anyone who has struggled with balancing what is expected of you with what you truly want - and also to those who simply enjoy good, descriptive writing.
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Isla

Posted January 12, 2010

Finally, an Honest Memoir

Pieces of Someday tells the story of one woman's battle with expectations--both the expectations of others and her own. It is a compelling story of finding love, direction, and self and has the courage to not tie up the ending with syrupy contrivances. If you have ever changed careers, experienced the heartache of infertility, or struck out to find yourself, you will find solace and inspiration in this touching memoir.
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gmansfield

Posted January 3, 2010

Skillful writing. Invites the reader on the journey. . .

Jan Vallone's skillful writing invites the reader on the journey, regardless of background. One woman's struggle provides encouragement for all. I found myself having little in common with the specifics of the memoir and yet constantly challenged and comforted in my own life. Fine writing is a catalyst for the reader. Recommended.
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Anonymous

Posted February 28, 2010

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Pieces of Someday

Overview

More About This Book

Overview

What People Are Saying

Dani Boss

David Sobel

Jocelyn Lieu

Les Lamkin

Product Details

Rating Distribution

Lyrical and lovely

Finally, an Honest Memoir

Skillful writing. Invites the reader on the journey. . .