Hey everyone,
I want to let you know about another gem from my publisher’s company. This one is called Daily Fresh and is published by the non-fiction imprint, Unruly Voices. It was written by Jory Post. It’s a set of seventy elegant essays that the author penned in the final months of his life. He embarked on this journey in the summer of 2020 after enrolling in a memoir and personal essay class taught by Dan White.
I can’t say enough about this book. I loved it. The essays are poignant, offering a rare, honest glimpse into a life. Nothing is sacred as the author probes into all corners of existence, examining, with love, humor and shrewd insight, both the interior and the exterior. I particularly liked the glimpses into author’s writing life: his routine, his goals, his lists, the submissions saga, the rejections, followed by the glorious acceptance emails.
I loved reading about the support he had along the way from other writers, both mega-published and un-published. And as someone for whom Santa Cruz is near and dear, I loved reading about his love for the area, from the take-out at Gayle’s to attending author readings at Bookshop Santa Cruz (pre-COVID naturally) to a celebration of the literary life in this small corner of the universe. I was also awed by how seamlessly the essays fit together, how well-written and tight they were, and how Jory wrote one, day after day, for seventy days.
The essays can be read in a few sittings, or taken daily, as the title implies. The essay topics will delight you. There are essays on baseball, extinct birds, deck-building, love, family, friends, chemo, COVID, cancer, words, therapy dogs, poker, golf, and night walking, among others. It’s a joyful book, full of love, brimming with laughter. Something inspiring for everyone.
Here’s the start of one of my favorites, “One Day at a Time”:
“Will I talk myself out of continuing to write these Daily Fresh pieces by beginning to think they are simply another form of navel-gazing? I hope not, because even though they are initially prompt-less, eventually a prompt appears that guides me forward into a near-stream-of-consciousness pathway that occasionally produces something of interest.”
The book: Daily Fresh by Jory Post, 332 pages, published October 25, 2021 by Unruly Voices. Available at all your favorite places.
Nancy Wood 