Body: My Life in Parts

Nina B. Lichtenstein

★★★★★ “This is a brilliant new way to write a memoir... I feel enriched, and grateful to discover a different way to go through my days. I loved every word.” Abigail Thomas, author of A Three Dog Life

Body: My Life in Parts is the memoir of an ex-pat Norwegian Lutheran turned American Viking Jewess who is on a quest. This front-end Gen X’er wonders “How the hell did I end up here, now, like this?” The author uses her body to find her answers. In stand-alone but interconnected chapters (“Eyes,” “Belly,” “Breasts,” “Hands,” etc.; 16 chapters in all), body parts serve as portals toward remembrances grounded in the physical body while linking to other forms of experience, with one goal: making sense of a life that she realizes— only through writing it— has been full of reactivity and agency, despite her rarely noticing it in the moment.

A quiet, grounding book in turbulent, uncertain times, Body: My Life in Parts, shows the reader how the treasure chest that is her own body can be a source of meaningful discovery, and recovery, of meaning. This book celebrates the body as witness and recordkeeper; a most dependable collaborator in “keeping the score” and in living a more examined life.

An appendix with body memory/writing prompts is also included, serving as a guide for readers who want to explore how to re-member—bring together—their own life-building stories.