Quite Contrary; A Collection of Personal Essays

Dover Point, 2014. First Edition [stated], presumed first printing. Trade paperback. Very good. Mimi Williams. [10], 97, [1] pages. Signed by the author and the Illustrator on the title page. Author's business card lais in. From a review by Mary Conklin posted on-line: Mary Gentry's first book might be Quite Contrary, but she is decidedly not. I had the privilege of catching up with this Boston Harbor resident and chatting with her about her new book, her family, and her love of all things ordinary. Longtime Olympia resident, Mary Gentry, delights readers with tales of simplicity in her new book. After nearly thirty years of practicing law in Olympia, Gentry retired in order to "have time to do some ‘other things.' One of those other things was writing." And write she did. Her first book, Quite Contrary, is complete, and her second, Too Far from the Tree, a series of stories about family relationships, was published in 2015. Gentry mourned the loss of op-ed greats such as Ellen Goodman and Anna Quindlen, and like these writers, Gentry chronicles the connections between relationships, life events, and that which is really the meat of life. Her genre of choice is "the personal essay," a style she describes as "part memoir, part commentary, mainly musings." The genre suits her and her writing resonates with warmth, humor and intelligence. Longtime friends, Gentry describes Williams as her "co-conspirator" on the project. Williams has been creating her unique carved linoleum block prints for almost twelve years. Williams' art is the perfect complement to Gentry's essays. Gentry's essays about the ordinary life, and how the simplest things in life are often the most significant, is a delightful read. It is not to be missed. There are no trolls in my life. I am solidly grounded in the here and now. My imagination is pretty much maxed out once I have dealt with the leftovers in my fridge. Still, there is much in my life and that of my friends and family that intrigues and amuses me that I want to capture and share. The subtle, seemingly insignificant events in life are the ones that interest me. Wry or wistful, it is the small stuff that grabs my attention and inspires my writing. This is as true of the nuances of relationships as it is of the surprises I find in my garden. "Quite Contrary" is a collection of personal essays that meanders through the homely stuff of my life; with luck, its very ordinariness will resonate with you, as well.