ABOUT THIS BOOKIn this nonlinear, loosely chronological memoir, Laurie Easter deftly navigates the rugged terrain of living off the grid in rural southern Oregon, along with the many hazards of the human heart. In quiet, searching, and sometimes experimental essays, she bravely explores the liminal spaces between guilt and forgiveness, life and death, grief and love, human society and the natural world.
Whether recounting the home birth of her second child, encounters with cougars, the fraught dynamics of mother-daughter relationships, the destructive power of wildfires, or the community bonds challenged by a tragic suicide, Easter’s writing is firmly grounded in place. She takes readers deep into the heart of a still-wild Oregon, perilous yet rich with natural beauty.
Written from one woman’s perspective as a mother, wife, and friend, All the Leavings is ultimately a book about love—for the child who faces a health crisis, for the friend dying of AIDS, for the one entangled by addiction who then disappears. Long after the final page is turned, it will resonate with readers interested in essays, memoir, alternative lifestyles, and the literature of the West.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHYLAURIE EASTER lives off the grid on the edge of wilderness in southern Oregon. Her essays have been awarded fellowships by the Vermont Studio Center and Playa, listed as notable in Best American Essays, and published in many literary journals and anthologies. She holds degrees from Southern Oregon University and Vermont College of Fine Arts. All the Leavings is her first book.
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REVIEWS“Dazzled by her prose, and startled by what living “off the grid” involves—(the bathtub is where?)—I was blown away from the git-go with a respect for Ms. Easter’s courage and endurance. She has loved, and she has suffered loss, as have we all, and she writes of both. But the strength and beauty of her language, combined with a rare generosity of spirit—the willingness to be vulnerable—transform these pieces into something more than essays, that makes of each a kind of offering. I absolutely loved this book.”
— Abigail Thomas, author of What Comes Next and How to Like It
“What is the color of leaving? Laurie Easter asks in this tender collection of essays that explores love, loss, and grief in all their many hues. She shows us there is no one answer to that central question, but instead builds a kaleidoscope that reflects the brilliant and broken-hearted nature of life itself.” —Brenda Miller, author of A Braided Heart: Essays on Writing and Form
"Laurie Easter’s essays illuminate the splendors and perils of a life shaped by wilderness, open-heartedness and the bold decision to live on one’s own terms. All the Leavings dives headlong into stories of loss and an unusual life and does so with poise, humility and grace. An astonishing and exquisite debut." —Sonja Livingston, author of Ghostbread