Textbook Amy Krouse Rosenthal

By Amy Krouse Rosenthal

The bestselling author of Encyclopedia an Ordinary Life returns with a literary experience that is unprecedented, unforgettable, and explosively human. 
 
Ten years after her beloved, groundbreaking Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life, #1 New York Times bestselling author Amy Krouse Rosenthal delivers a book full of her distinct blend of nonlinear narrative, wistful reflections, and insightful wit. It is a mighty, life-affirming work that sheds light on all the ordinary and extraordinary ways we are connected.
 
Like she did with Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life, Amy Krouse Rosenthal ingeniously adapts a standard format—a textbook, this time—to explore life’s lessons and experiences into a funny, wise, and poignant work of art. Not exactly a memoir, not just a collection of observations, Textbook Amy Krouse Rosenthal is a beautiful exploration into the many ways we are connected on this planet and speaks to the awe, bewilderment, and poignancy of being alive.
 
“…a groundbreaking new twist on the traditional literary experience… Textbook is a delightful collection of interesting scenarios that directly point to life lessons. Rosenthal manages to spotlight grand moments and everyday moments with equal curiosity, proving that it can be both a privilege — and petrifying — to peek into one’s humanity.”—Associated Press
 
“Rosenthal is a marvel… a talented storyteller with an experimental flair for formatting… This engaging, playful, and clever glimpse into one woman’s life offers lots of photographs, graphic illustrations, and diagrams, resulting in a book that will make readers smile as their notions of story delivery expand.” —Booklist

• Language: English
• Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
• Release date: Aug 9, 2016
• ISBN: 9781101985021

Amy Krouse Rosenthal

Amy Krouse Rosenthal wrote more than thirty picture books, including the #1 New York Times bestsellers Dear Girl, (cowritten with her daughter, Paris Rosenthal) and I Wish You More (cowritten with Tom Lichtenheld). A con­tributor to NPR, TED collaborator and speaker, filmmaker, and the author of two groundbreaking memoirs (Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life and Textbook Amy Krouse Rosenthal), she raised her three children with her husband, Jason, in Chicago. For more about Amy’s life, work, and the foundation formed in her memory, please see amykrouserosenthalfoundation.org.

Book preview

Cover for Textbook Amy Krouse Rosenthal

An imprint of Penguin Random House LLC

375 Hudson Street

New York, New York 10014

Copyright © 2016 by Amy Krouse Rosenthal

Penguin supports copyright. Copyright fuels creativity, encourages diverse voices, promotes free speech, and creates a vibrant culture. Thank you for buying an authorized edition of this book and for complying with copyright laws by not reproducing, scanning, or distributing any part of it in any form without permission. You are supporting writers and allowing Penguin to continue to publish books for every reader.

DUTTON—EST. 1852 (Stylized) and DUTTON are registered trademarks of Penguin Random House LLC.

Permissions can be found here.

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA

has been applied for.

eBook ISBN 9781101985021

While the author has made every effort to provide accurate telephone numbers, Internet addresses, and other contact information at the time of publication, neither the publisher nor the author assumes any responsibility for errors or for changes that occur after publication. Further, the publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

This book provides the opportunity for additional engagement via text messaging.

Responses to text messages will be provided for as long as possible.

Penguin is committed to publishing works of quality and integrity. In that spirit, we are proud to offer this book to our readers; however, the story, the experiences, and the words are the author’s alone.

Version_2

Permissions

Amy (heart) Cougar photograph permission of Robin Layton. A version of this story was originally published in A Letter to My Dog by Robin Layton, Lisa Erspamer, and Kimi Culp. Reprinted by permission of PQ Blackwell and Chronicle Books.

A version of Midterm Essay was originally published in O, The Oprah Magazine. Copyright © Amy Krouse Rosenthal. Reprinted by permission of the author.

You Want a Social Life, with Friends from The Collected Poems of Kenneth Koch, copyright © 2005 by The Kenneth Koch Literary Estate. Used by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, an imprint of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved.

"The Fictional Supplement to Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life" by John Green. Copyright © John Green. Reprinted by permission of the author.

Short, Collective Biography courtesy of Lenka Clayton (lenkaclayton.com).

Book Jacket Jacket concept by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, construction by Kayla Ginsburg.

Chairs illustrations by Kevin Nordstrom.

All other drawings in the book created by the author; all other images and graphics created in collaboration with Ruby Western and Kayla Ginsburg.

CONDITION OF BOOK

New

Signed edition

Used, like new

Used, like used

ANY ADDITIONAL NOTES: ________________________________________________

CONDITION OF AUTHOR

Pretty bad

  X   Pretty good

ANY ADDITIONAL NOTES: At present, the author is in relatively good condition. She exercises regularly—a combination of long walks, swimming, and weight training to retain bone density—and enjoys a well-balanced diet, though it is noted she could cut back on cheese. She is able to run upstairs to grab something real quick without getting too out of breath. In a pinch, she could fill in as your tennis doubles partner. Her hearing: fine. Her eyesight: eh. One last final inspection revealed a couple minor scratches on her lower left leg, and a three-millimeter rip on her right earlobe, presumably due to large, heavy earrings worn in her youth.

THE HUMAN CONDITION

  X   Gosh, that’s a tough one.

ANY ADDITIONAL NOTES: Existence is akin to a 300,000-hours-long game of whack-a-mole where the grand prize dangling in the back row is your inevitable death. But I’ll tell you what: On any given day, you sure can find a nice array of free, tasty samples at the grocery store.

ISSUED TO: ______________ DATE: ______________

SUGGESTED READING

This book.

CONTENTS

TITLE PAGE

COPYRIGHT

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

INTRODUCTION

PRE-ASSESSMENT

GEOGRAPHY

SOCIAL STUDIES

ART

SCIENCE

MIDTERM ESSAY

ROMANCE LANGUAGE

HISTORY

MUSIC

MATH

LANGUAGE ARTS

FINAL REVIEW

END NOTES

I would like to acknowledge that the following have earned extra credit:

Click http://bit.ly/2a9Bbw9 to see a larger version of this table.

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to the first book that offers additional engagement via texting.

You will find texting interactions sprinkled throughout this book. You can choose to participate in all, some, or none.

Rest assured this book functions perfectly fine without the texting element, just like any other normal book.

If you do partake in these interactive interludes, you may choose to do so in real time as you read, or you may choose to come back to any of them later—whatever you wish.

To begin, simply text Hello to 312-883-9945.

You will receive a greeting from me, Amy, confirming you are good to go.

P.S. Will you receive any random, unsolicited, out-of-the-blue texts? No way.

Reviews for Textbook Amy Krouse Rosenthal

[angelalam-300700 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I interacted with the text messages while reading. I was not impressed.

Maybe if I had won the homemade pecan pie...Nah, this book wasn't quite a memoir, in my opinion, but more of an exercise in communicating with an author via text messages, website, and written materials.

[bookworm12_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Achingly beautiful. Rosenthal finds the beauty in the mundane and reminds us to cherish each moment. The book is all the more poignant when you find out she died of cancer not long after this was published. I loved the interactive elements. You can text a phone number and vote in surveys and receive audio clips of things she mentions. I've never felt so immediately connected to a community of readers.

“Just look at us, all of us, quietly doing our thing and trying to matter. The earnestness is inspiring and heartbreaking at the same time.”

“The same five letters can be rearranged to express my daily sense of—and relationship to—time. First from the viewpoint of childhood, then young adulthood, and now, the present. ACRES of it..CARES about it. RACES against it.”

[achmorrison-789479 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

So great! The world misses AKR, but we are better for the work she has left us with. This book was a fast read, but pure joy.

[carriewuj · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Clever, clever, clever! This is less a read than an interactive experience. Quirky and creative -- remember Little Pea and Duck!-Rabbit! from reading with the kids? Here is Amy's humor and free association let loose for adults. A perfect follow-up to her Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life (which I need to re-read), this book is linked to a website and text messages which it prompts you to visit on occasion to: hear wine glass hums, submit rainbow pictures, share a story about the imminent present, listen to Amy read her vocabulary journal, and many other fun, unusual options. The text book -- get it? idea is to have the reader help generate supplementary content in a major collaborative effort. To see how Amy has done this in other ways look for The Beckoning of Lovely on youtube (or text it as prompted) This is an homage to creativity, art, and making a difference. Textbook has a few nods to traditional education too in how the book is arranged -- by school subject -- but Rosenthal's riffs on those topics turn traditional learning upside down. This is a "dip into" book and good for a tech savvy, non-traditional reader. Have fun!

[bobbybslax · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Not my cup of tea. It offers sporadic insight and poignancy, but the presentation is nice.

[readaholic12_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Textbook is so many things, including a cute play on words. I've never read anything quite like it and maybe because I am such a fan of AKR's writing, I loved all of it.

I bought this book shortly before the author died and finished it after attending a celebration of her life in Chicago, which may explain why it was so very moving to me to read her last work.

I recommend reading Textbook with your phone in hand, and please follow all the text prompts and links. Especially, listen to the soundtrack while reading her end notes and keep tissues handy.

I'm sad this book isn't more popular and sadder that Amy's voice is gone from this world. She left us a lovely and inspirational goodbye letter.

#Makethemostofyourtimehere

[g82hug · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

One of the best books I have ever read... could read it over and over again. Infinite inspiration <3

[viviennestrauss · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I tried to pace myself but read it all in one sitting - filled with heart, humor and hope.

[froxgirl · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Basically a collection of quirky thoughts, even more disjointed than her earlier "Encyclopedia". A few are memorable, and those who enjoy "Daily Meditations" and the like will appreciate more than I did.

[debnance_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Funny. I tell people I read just about anything but horror and textbooks.

Well, if this is a textbook, you can scratch textbooks from my do-not-read list.

How can I sum up this odd collection of vignettes, lists, photos, and miscellany?
Of course, it is a textbook and it's not a textbook. It's a memoir and it's not a memoir. It's a book and it's not a book. It's odd and it's regular. It's nothing and it's everything.

I give up. I can't really tell you anything about this book. I can't really tell you if you will like it or not. I will just say that I'm crazy about it, and if you like it, too, I'd love to hear from you, and so, in a Textbook-Amy-Krouse-Rosenthal-sort-of-way, feel free to text me your thoughts about this book: [phone].