Metz's Perfection chronicles with lapidary precision one woman's climb back to happiness after not just a spouse's death, but also the shocking recognition that her life before that death was not what she had thought it was. The journey is a painful one, but Ms. Metz is much the stronger for having survived to recount it.

The nice thing about having a friend who is crazier than you are is that she bolsters your belief in your own sanity.

Maybe I needed to make like a potato, winnow myself down, be part of something that was not easy, just simple.

But hard bitten cynicism leaves one feeling peevish, and too much of it can do lasting damage to your heart.

Nowadays anyone with a crap laptop and an Internet connection can sound their barbaric yawp, whatever it may be.

I got my undergrad in Creative Writing, and then I didn't get my Masters in obsession, because I figured I already had that covered.

The road to hell is paved with leeks and potatoes