Product Description
A beautifully crafted and inviting account of one woman’s life, Safekeeping offers a sublimely different kind of autobiography. Setting aside a straightforward narrative in favor of brief passages of vivid prose, Abigail Thomas revisits the pivotal moments and the tiny incidents that have shaped her life: pregnancy at 18; single motherhood (of three!) by the age of 26; the joys and frustrations of three marriages; and the death of her second husband, who was her best friend. The stories made of these incidents are startling in their clarity and reassuring in their wisdom.

This is a book in which silence speaks as eloquently as what is revealed. Openhearted and effortlessly funny, these brilliantly selected glimpses of the arc of a life are, in an age of excessive confession and recrimination, a welcome tonic.

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.5 based on 19 reviews)

I was really disappointed

I read Abigail Thomas' article in the AARP magazine. I am writing a memoir and thought I would like to read one of her memoirs before buying her book which is supposed to tell you how.

I decided on "Safekeeping". I was so disappointed! I read it in two sittings and was left feeling, "That is it?". I've thought a couple of days whether or not I should write this review as several readers have raved about it. The blurbs on the cover do too.

I'm sorry, but I just can't agree. I'm glad I bought a used copy and didn't waste too much money!
August 03, 2008

Not on Par with A Three Dog Life

I had very high expectations for Safekeeping after having devoured Ms. Thomas's excellent memoir, A Three Dog Life. Safekeeping is nothing like A Three Dog Life and so I was left disappointed.

A Three Dog Life is a moving memoir which displays Ms. Thomas's keen insight and hyper-self-awareness as well as her beautiful way of being able to translate her thoughts and feelings into words. Safekeeping also showcases, Abigail's unique and talented writing style, however, Safekeeping is a collection of short vignette's and does not tell a complete story or recount contiguous events in her life. The stories were disjointed and jumped around.

I should note that I am not a huge fan of short story collections to begin with, so I am perhaps not the best critic of a book which is basically mini short stories. Abigail Thomas's writing is sparse and insightful. Those who love short stories will like this book.

I recommend reading a Three Dog Life first so as to gain knowledge and backstory on Abigail's life. I feel that this knowledge enables a greater appreciation of Safekeeping despite the fact that it was written before A Three Dog Life.
April 14, 2008

Unusual Memoir

I can't remember now why I bought this book. Must have read a review somewhere. When I first started it, I was a little annoyed by the writing style...some very short and other longer chapters, jumping from one point of view to another, racing back and forth in time. But in the end, I really liked the book, perhaps mostly because of its unusual style. It's laid out as if it were a book of short stories. I think hers is a story many people will relate to.
November 23, 2007

I liked the authors comfortable, relaxed style

I liked this author enough to pick up her memoir--that came out not too long ago--and liked her even more!
August 29, 2007

Disappointing

Thankfully, Abigail Thomas followed the proverb, "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again," having recently composed a wonderful memoir of life before, during and (mostly) after her husband suffered a traumatic brain injury, entitled A Three Dog Life. Unfortunately, this earlier work, a 179-page collection of about 100 stories, ranging in length from one sentence to a few pages, was disappointing. In Safekeeping, snippets of her life from an eighteen-year-old pregnant wife, to grandmotherhood, her writing feels stiff and forced and even though I disliked it from the start, I trudged on hopefully. Unfortunately, my disappointment never disappeared and only wavered during two of the stories, I Ate There Once, about a conversation which takes place as she rides in a car with her second and third husbands and, What the Moment Can Hold, which tells of her feelings and actions during an encounter with her newborn granddaughter. Both felt authentic and true. As far as the rest of the stories, they seemed like what you'd get from an above-average college student if you assigned them to create a journal of life, specifying, "Write down any random thought you have." Additionally, it is written in the third person, which doesn't suit the theme, memoir-like "true stories from a life." Readers should skip Safekeeping in favor of her later and many-times-better memoir, A Three Dog Life.
November 23, 2006

SIMILAR PRODUCTS

A Three Dog Life
by Abigail Thomas

Thinking About Memoir (AARP)
by Abigail Thomas

Herb's Pajamas
by Abigail Thomas

Getting Over Tom
by Abigail Thomas

An ACTUAL LIFE
by Abigail Thomas