Publishers Weekly - Audio
06/26/2017
Dickinson, who writes the syndicated “Ask Amy” advice column, follows The Mighty Queens of Freeville with this similarly themed memoir of love lost and found. Returning as a divorced adult to the small town near Ithaca, N.Y., where she grew up, Dickinson did not expect to find love; her primary motivation for moving was to be near her aging mother. But most of this memoir is about falling in love with a prior acquaintance, carrying out a courtship under the prying eyes of a small town, and remarrying and becoming a stepmother. Reading the audiobook, Dickinson’s emotions comes through as she recounts the ups and downs of these years, especially the slow decline of her mother and her own debilitating grief following her mother’s death. She is more spirited while reading the lighter elements of her story, gleefully recounting a series of terrible dates between her two marriages and describing the various indignities of middle age. Dickinson’s delivery can be rushed and at times giggly, with many sentences rising in pitch at the end so that they resemble questions. Still, the intimacy of this memoir rests on Dickinson’s authenticity, so these small imperfections only add to the listening experience. A Hachette hardcover. (Mar.)
Publishers Weekly
01/30/2017
Syndicated advice columnist Dickinson (The Mighty Queens of Freeville) shares reminiscences in this authentic and heartfelt story of life in the small village (pop. 520) of Freeville on the outskirts of Ithaca, N.Y. One of four kids, Dickinson was raised on a dairy farm, but when she was 12, her colorful, reckless father lost the property and divorced her mother (who later inherited another home in Freeville). Dickinson writes of her first failed marriage, her life as a single mom (she lived in Washington D.C. but summered with her daughter in Freeville), her early job at NPR, and her eventual shift to the Chicago Tribune’s Ask Amy column. The bulk of the memoir deals with family topics, her midlife search for her own “Mr. Darcy” (who turns out to be a “hunky contractor” named Bruno), coping with the deterioration of her aging mother, and dealing with her profound attachment to people, places, and houses. Each chapter serves as a vignette, and strung together they tell the tale of a “reliable,” practical (she owns just four pair of shoes), immensely loving daughter, wife, and mother, who despite her career success remains down to earth and focused on family. Chapters on surviving her mother’s death and restoring ties with her elderly father are particularly moving. Ask Amy fans will eagerly soak up this intimate memoir, and new readers will feel as if they’ve found a compassionate new friend. (Mar.)
From the Publisher
"Funny, generous, thoughtful, and wonderfully crisp, Dickinson's memoir is one of those tales that make you proud to be a human—with all of our hopes, failures, and graces intact."—Gillian Flynn, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Gone Girl
"Dickinson deftly recounts [her story] truthfully but without trespassing on family members' privacy...Her warm and generous spirit makes a reader feel as though they've been invited in for hot cocoa on a cold day."—Booklist (starred review)
"Amy Dickinson has written a simply wonderful memoir. It is courageously honest and touching, but most of all, hilarious and laugh-out-loud funny. She tells us what it is like to be human, to love and to lose and keep going, no matter what. This book is a life-affirming love letter to small town America and the true meaning of family and community. I couldn't have loved it more!"—Fannie Flagg, New York Times bestselling authorof Can't Wait to Get to Heaven
"[An] honest, funny memoir...especially potent when it comes to the blending of families...[a book] that won't disappoint."—Real Simple
"A wonderful memoir of what family and home mean in these complicated times. Amy Dickinson will captivate you with her wit, wisdom, and honesty."—Delia Ephron,author of Siracusa
"Wryly sincere and poignant...Dickinson remains an engagingly chatty, witty, and relatable writer with sage insights."—Kirkus Reviews
"This book is a truth machine. A laugh machine. An I-needed-that-kick-in-the-ass machine. Strangers Tend to Tell Me Things is absolute proof that the best stories don't just entertain us; they reveal us. And lift us. Wherever you are in your life, you need this book."—Brad Meltzer, #1 New York Times bestsellingauthor of Heroes for My Daughter
"This is awkward, because the characters in this book are real people, but I'm going to say it anyway: I love the people in this book. Jane! Bruno and the daughters! And Amy, who is very tough on herself, and funny and wise; I especially love her because she is a wonderful writer. Plus, she sings in the church choir. Plus, there is a line on p. 169 that makes me laugh every time I think of it. Strangers Tend to Tell Me Things is a terrific memoir."—Jane Hamilton, bestselling author of A Map of The World
"Poignant and revealing."—Bustle, Best Nonfiction Books of the Month
"Dickinson makes you believe in the ageless gift of love....In Strangers Tend to Tell Me Things, she is...making room for us to make our own mistakes, to leave the house with our hair unbrushed, to fall in love in a rush, to fall off the tightrope during that awkward blending family stage, and then to climb back on, quietly triumphant."—Beth Kephart, The Chicago Tribune
"'Real life doesn't always reveal itself as neatly as a question sent in to an advice columnist,' Dickinson admits. But the heartfelt honesty of her entertaining narrative—rife with contemporary dramas to which many readers will relate—makes for a compelling, hopeful portrait of a woman coming-of-middle-age with wit, aplomb and authenticity."—Shelf Awareness
"You can't go home again. But you should consider moving to Amy Dickinson's hometown. The Village of Freeville may not have a Starbucks but it's got Venti grace, kindness, and wisdom."—Mo Rocca, CBS Sunday Morning
"Amy Dickinson's Strangers Tend to Tell Me Things is a very funny, whip-smart, charming, and addictively engaging memoir. I felt myself wanting to jump into the pages and be with all of Amy's people, and of course Amy. The wisdom she is well known for is present on every page without knocking you over the head. This is a book you will want to read and give to the people you love (and maybe the people you aren't so crazy about)."—Julie Klam, New York Times bestselling author of You Had Me at Woof
Library Journal - Audio
08/01/2017
Dickinson (The Mighty Queens of Freeville) pulls the curtain back on her life and treats readers to a glimpse inside the world of the woman behind the internationally famous "Ask Amy" advice column. Finding it easier to give advice then to take it, Dickinson presents a deeply personal memoir about her quaint town of Freeville, NY. Poignant, emotional, funny, and relatable, this moving memoir will appeal to anyone who has ever suffered through divorce, middle age, child rearing, aging parents, or falling in love. To err is human, and Dickinson makes mistakes and hilarious missteps (which she gleefully recounts) so that her readers don't have to. The work is narrated by the author, who brings poise, laughter, and familiarity to the telling of her story. VERDICT For fans of women's relationships and memoirs. ["If you don't already love this author from her advice column and NPR's Wait Wait…Don't Tell Me, this latest work will make you want to move to Freeville to become her new neighbor": LJ 12/16 review of the Hachette hc.]—Erin Cataldi, Johnson Cty. P.L., Franklin, IN
MAY 2017 - AudioFile
Amy Dickinson, who writes the syndicated "Ask Amy" advice column and contributes to NPR's "Wait, Wait...Don't Tell Me," is back with a second memoir. In this one she delves into her own personal stories of making her way through life. Many listeners will find her anecdotes relatable as she adopts a down-to-earth, open tone to recount both uplifting and challenging experiences, such as finding love again in middle age with a childhood friend and forging new family ties, caring for aging parents, and discovering what she values. Her heartfelt voicing displays her empathy as well as her sense of humor, both of which shine through in the answers she gives to those who write to her for advice. S.E.G. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
2017-01-03
A popular newspaper columnist candidly shares more memories of her altruistic life, past and present.In this follow-up to The Mighty Queens of Freeville (2009), Dickinson, the ever wise voice (and Ann Landers successor) behind the widely syndicated "Ask Amy" advice column, is wryly sincere and poignant in her further stories about how she left tiny Freeville, New York, for more adventurous pastures, then returned to downshift through midlife to "resume the lifelong job of growing up." Her book is rooted in landscape and people, featuring the bucolic hamlet (pop. 520) of her childhood and the family members who live close to the cozy house she inherited from her mother. Dickinson shares deeply entrenched memories of life on the farm in her early years, with a gaggle of siblings and her restless parents, Buck and Jane. The author also examines the domino effect of a deflated marriage, infidelity, single motherhood, and a temporary return to Freeville to regroup before heading off to stints in Washington, D.C., and Chicago. Anchoring the memoir is a gloriously detailed chronicling of her romantic courtship with Bruno, a former high school classmate who would steal her heart back home. Their marriage, when Dickinson was 50, had several minor stumbling blocks but successfully blended together a family of five daughters. "I was a newlywed," she writes. "An over-the-hill, root-dying, hot-flash-suffering, slightly lumpy newlywed, but still—a bride." Throughout the book, anecdotes on small-town life, blind dating, and convoluted tree removal intertwine with heart-rending moments about her aging father and stubborn, increasingly frail mother, who forced the author to face the sobering reality of relocating her to a care facility after months of "strategizing, subterfuge, and frustrated coercion." Readers unfamiliar with Dickinson should begin with her first book, which gives a marvelous overview of a woman returning to her roots to restore her faith in family. In this extension of her debut memoir, Dickinson remains an engagingly chatty, witty, and relatable writer with sage insights.
