University of Missouri Press, 2020 eISBN: 978-0-8262-7447-2 | Cloth: 978-0-8262-2212-1 Library of Congress Classification CT275.M295A3 2020 Dewey Decimal Classification 977.8043092
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC | REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
ABOUT THIS BOOK In this warm, deeply-personal, and often humorous book, Nancy McCabe re-examines and gains new understanding of her early life and her ill-advised marriage. Borrowing from Bosch’s Garden of Earthly Delights and Kafka’s “Metamorphosis,” how-to essays and before-and-after weight loss ads, a curriculum guide, Bible study notes, an obsession with Tom Swiftie jokes, and women’s magazine columns and quizzes that oversimplified women’s lives and choices, McCabe examines the many influences that led to her youthful marriage—and out of it, into finally taking control of her life.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY Nancy McCabe directs the writing program at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford and teaches in the low residency MFA program at the Spalding University School of Creative and Professional Writing. She is the author of four previous books of nonfiction and a novel. She lives in Bradford, Pennsylvania.
REVIEWS
“This is a failed-marriage memoir with an interesting twist: the narrator admits to entering into the marriage in bad faith yet remains committed to the union. It’s also a redemption story of a young woman growing toward independence. That it eschews a victim narrative and owns up to the narrator’s failings is refreshing.”—Michele Morano, DePaul University, author of Grammar Lessons: Translating a Life in Spain and the forthcoming Like Love
“Why should a reader care about some writer’s long-ago, short-lived marriage? Because when the writer is Nancy McCabe, the examination of that long-ago marriage helps us understand our own struggles for love and independence. . . . This is an immensely lively performance from which we emerge not merely entertained but enlightened and grateful. McCabe’s done the difficult work of probing her heart, which brings us closer to apprehending our own. . . . An engaging, spirited, and thoughtful work.”—Beth Ann Fennelly, author of Heating & Cooling: 52 Micro-Memoirs
"They say it is impossible to understand another person’s marriage, and perhaps equally impossible to comprehend your own, but Nancy McCabe’s Can This Marriage Be Saved? is a wise, funny, and inventive attempt to put those notions to rest.McC abe recounts her early years vividly, with delightful honesty and remarkable insight. Every page is a pleasant surprise.”—Dinty W. Moore, author of Between Panic and Desire
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Contents
Question 1
The Garden of Earthly Delights
Question 2
Ways to Tell a Story
Facts about the Moon
Question 3
First Love: A Curriculum Guide
Question 4
Before and After
Questions 5 – 6
With Abandon
Question 7
Honeymoon Reservations
Question 8
Breathing on Your Own
What Survives
Flight: Part 1
Metamorphosis
Flight: Part 2
Question 9
Things of Eternal Worth
Questions 10 – 11
Speak Softly
Can This Marriage Be Saved? Answer Key
Cabin Helper
Author’s Note
REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
If you are a student who cannot use this book in printed form, BiblioVault may be able to supply you
with an electronic file for alternative access.
Please have the accessibility coordinator at your school fill out this form.
University of Missouri Press, 2020 eISBN: 978-0-8262-7447-2 Cloth: 978-0-8262-2212-1
In this warm, deeply-personal, and often humorous book, Nancy McCabe re-examines and gains new understanding of her early life and her ill-advised marriage. Borrowing from Bosch’s Garden of Earthly Delights and Kafka’s “Metamorphosis,” how-to essays and before-and-after weight loss ads, a curriculum guide, Bible study notes, an obsession with Tom Swiftie jokes, and women’s magazine columns and quizzes that oversimplified women’s lives and choices, McCabe examines the many influences that led to her youthful marriage—and out of it, into finally taking control of her life.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY Nancy McCabe directs the writing program at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford and teaches in the low residency MFA program at the Spalding University School of Creative and Professional Writing. She is the author of four previous books of nonfiction and a novel. She lives in Bradford, Pennsylvania.
REVIEWS
“This is a failed-marriage memoir with an interesting twist: the narrator admits to entering into the marriage in bad faith yet remains committed to the union. It’s also a redemption story of a young woman growing toward independence. That it eschews a victim narrative and owns up to the narrator’s failings is refreshing.”—Michele Morano, DePaul University, author of Grammar Lessons: Translating a Life in Spain and the forthcoming Like Love
“Why should a reader care about some writer’s long-ago, short-lived marriage? Because when the writer is Nancy McCabe, the examination of that long-ago marriage helps us understand our own struggles for love and independence. . . . This is an immensely lively performance from which we emerge not merely entertained but enlightened and grateful. McCabe’s done the difficult work of probing her heart, which brings us closer to apprehending our own. . . . An engaging, spirited, and thoughtful work.”—Beth Ann Fennelly, author of Heating & Cooling: 52 Micro-Memoirs
"They say it is impossible to understand another person’s marriage, and perhaps equally impossible to comprehend your own, but Nancy McCabe’s Can This Marriage Be Saved? is a wise, funny, and inventive attempt to put those notions to rest.McC abe recounts her early years vividly, with delightful honesty and remarkable insight. Every page is a pleasant surprise.”—Dinty W. Moore, author of Between Panic and Desire
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Contents
Question 1
The Garden of Earthly Delights
Question 2
Ways to Tell a Story
Facts about the Moon
Question 3
First Love: A Curriculum Guide
Question 4
Before and After
Questions 5 – 6
With Abandon
Question 7
Honeymoon Reservations
Question 8
Breathing on Your Own
What Survives
Flight: Part 1
Metamorphosis
Flight: Part 2
Question 9
Things of Eternal Worth
Questions 10 – 11
Speak Softly
Can This Marriage Be Saved? Answer Key
Cabin Helper
Author’s Note
REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
If you are a student who cannot use this book in printed form, BiblioVault may be able to supply you
with an electronic file for alternative access.
Please have the accessibility coordinator at your school fill out this form.
It can take 2-3 weeks for requests to be filled.
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC | REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE