MEANWHILE, I KEEP DANCING

Goodman recalls her dreams, stumbles, and adventures in this debut memoir.

In the book’s opening chapter, “The Night that Changed It All,” the author describes her shock after a confrontation with Walmart security guards over shoplifting. After being taken back to the store’s offices, the author couldn’t formulate an answer to the question as to why she stole multiple items. “I didn’t know,” she writes; “I tried to come up with an answer.” She then grappled with how to confess to her husband once she was released. This introductory vignette, with its raw vulnerability and look into Goodman’s inner turmoil, is reflective of a memoir that does not shy away from honest self-reflection. Plagued by chronic fatigue syndrome throughout her life, the author found that most doctors did not even believe it existed, and those who took the illness seriously told her there was nothing they could do to help. Often maligned as “yuppie flu,” CFS derailed Goodman’s daily routines, complicated her relationships, and clouded her judgment. While her physical and mental battle with the disease is a major theme of the book, the author is resolute about her belief in hope. The book’s second half is largely devoted to Goodman’s move to a ranch in western Montana, where she currently breeds horses and lives among an eclectic array of farm animals (including a baby lamb, who wears clothes and diapers in her home). The author also focuses on religion; the book explores spiritual concepts but is not preachy in tone as Goodman describes, for instance, her tenuous relationship with her father’s Catholicism and her fascination with Christian Science (due to its founder’s lifelong battle with “an illness no-one could define”). With an MFA in English from Charlotte, North Carolina’s Queens University, the author is a skilled writer who effectively conveys an inspirational message of self-discovery and an honest assessment of past mistakes. This is a down-to-earth, accessible read about picking up the pieces when life falls apart.

A motivating, authentic memoir about overcoming life’s obstacles.