Jane Merryman

a fish trapped inside the wind*

The Writer

I write personal essay. I write to find out how I feel about something, an aspiration I learned from the poet May Sarton. I sometimes picture myself as a grizzled prospector leading a forlorn, burdened donkey into the trackless waste of basin and range country, looking for riches that might be only a few bright flecks in a stream.

These essays explore my world, from the hiking trails of California to the Java Sea and the Silk Road, from school days to retirement, from my backyard to my bookshelves. I invite you to read them—with this caveat from the Persian poet Hafiz:
Listen: this world is the lunatic's sphere,
Don't always agree it's real,

Even with my feet upon it
And the postman knowing my door

My address is somewhere else.


*The quote above about the fish is from Pablo Neruda.



The Rowers

Filed under: Mini Book Reviews — November 24, 2007 @ 12:03 pm

Kiesling, Stephen. The Shell Game: Reflections on Rowing and the Pursuit of Excellence. Nordic Knight Press, 1982.
 
            I like to walk at dawn along the river. At this time of day it belongs to a few exercise freaks, the birds, and the rowers. The university rowing team trains here, putting their boats in the water […]

An Improbable Life

Filed under: Mini Book Reviews — November 24, 2007 @ 11:56 am

Reiss, Tom. The Orientalist: Solving the Mystery of a Strange and Dangerous Life. Random House, 2005.
 
            As in the best biographies, the times take center stage in The Orientalist, and what times they were. Perhaps they existed more in the fevered dreams of the vast population of Europe’s uprooted than in actuality. Nevertheless, the early […]

When a Lover Enters the Room

Filed under: Mini Book Reviews — November 24, 2007 @ 11:49 am

Rosenblum, Mort. Chocolate: A Bittersweet Saga of Dark and Light. North Point Press, 2005.
            Phenylethylamine, a molecule produced in the human hypothalamus, triggers the same warm glow one feels when a lover enters the room. This substance is also found in Theobroma cacao, a tropical bean from which we make chocolate. No wonder chocolate expert […]