Product Details
- Author: Kelly Corrigan
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- Binding: Hardcover
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- Dewey Decimal Number: 362.196994490092
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- EAN: 9781401303365
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- ISBN: 1401303366
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- Label: Voice
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- Manufacturer: Voice
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- Number of Items: 1
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- Number of Pages: 272
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- Product Group: Book
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- Publication Date: 2008-01-08
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- Publisher: Voice
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- Release Date: 2008-01-08
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- Studio: Voice
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- Title: The Middle Place (Voice)
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Avg Customer Rating: 
Product Description: "The Middle Place is about calling home. Instinctively. Even when all the paperwork -- a marriage license, a notarized deed, two birth certificates, and seven years of tax returns -- clearly indicates you're an adult, but all the same, there you are, clutching the phone and thanking God that you're still somebody's daughter." For Kelly Corrigan, family is everything. At thirty-six, she had a marriage that worked, a couple of funny, active kids, and a weekly newspaper column. But even as a thriving adult, Kelly still saw herself as George Corrigan's daughter. A garrulous Irish-American charmer from Baltimore, George was the center of the ebullient, raucous Corrigan clan. He greeted every day by opening his bedroom window and shouting, "Hello, World!" Suffice it to say, Kelly's was a colorful childhood, just the sort a girl could get attached to. Kelly lives deep within what she calls the Middle Place -- "that sliver of time when parenthood and childhood overlap" -- comfortably wedged between her adult duties and her parents' care. But she's abruptly shoved into a coming-of-age when she finds a lump in her breast -- and gets the diagnosis no one wants to hear. And so Kelly's journey to full-blown adulthood begins. When George, too, learns he has late-stage cancer, it is Kelly's turn to take care of the man who had always taken care of her -- and show us a woman as she finally takes the leap and grows up. Kelly Corrigan is a natural-born storyteller, a gift you quickly recognize as her father's legacy, and her stories are rich with everyday details. She captures the beat of an ordinary life and the tender, sometimes fractious moments that bind families together.Rueful and honest, Kelly is the prized friend who will tell you her darkest, lowest, screwiest thoughts, and then later, dance on the coffee table at your party. Funny, yet heart-wrenching, The Middle Place is about being a parent and a child at the same time. It is about the special double-vision you get when you are standing with one foot in each place. It is about the family you make and the family you came from -- and locating, navigating, and finally celebrating the place where they meet. It is about reaching for life with both hands -- and finding it.
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Customer Reviews
Spot on!
Corrigan's ability to explain things that some of us know and others are yet to find out is astounding. She hones in on those crucial moments that make us who we are, but surrounds us with great memories that make up our lives.
So well written and funny that I read it straight through both times and plan to make sure everyone I grew up with reads it too.
If you have a child or have lost a parent, The Middle Place speaks to you, bringing to life the things deep in your heart.
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Another fan of The Middle Place!
Add me to the chorus of praise. I'm an over-scheduled mom of two young kids who works full-time but I stayed up all night (literally) reading The Middle Place. I so admire Kelly Corrigan's ability to put her family experience into words.
There's too much to say to capture how much I enjoyed it (and I am somewhat less than eloquent), but I tell all of my friends it's a "must read."
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A wonderful book.
I absolutely adored the Middle Place. As the mother of two young daughters (3-1/2 and 18 months), I was incredibly moved and touched by Kelly's incredible story and the heartfelt, funny and authentic way she writes.
After hearing about this book from a friend, I picked it up at a local book store. From the moment I opened the first page, I couldn't put it down and was literally reading it in line at pre-school pick up, when I was stopped at stoplights, any free moment I could find.
The Middle Place is a story that every mother and daughter should read. It is a book that makes you think, makes you feel and alters the way you see the world.
Kelly is an incredible writer and I certainly hope she writes more.
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a must read...i loved this book
This book reminded me why I love memoirs. Fantastic, resonant content written with wit, style and precision. The story is heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time - which is quite a feat. You want to know her family and be a part of Ms Corrigan's life. And she writes about her own illness (breast cancer) and dealing with her father's (bladder cancer) with such honesty, clear eyed candor and clean prose, that you don't want to ever put it down. I was disappointed when it ended.
Hurray! Read this book!
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You MUST read this book!
As a 40-year old mother of a preschool-aged child, I didn't ever consider the possibility of being faced with cancer. During my horrible breast cancer "scare", I found Kelly Corrigan's website, Circus of Cancer (http://www.circusofcancer.org/) which lead me to her book THE MIDDLE PLACE. This is a must read for everyone and anyone who encounters cancer or the possibility of cancer. You will cry and laugh out loud!
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