The Slippery Year-Melanie Gideon

The Slippery Year
Melanie Gideon
Knopf, Aug 4 2009, $24.95
ISBN: 978-0307270672

This is a fascinating autobiography by a forty something woman looking at her life as a twin growing up with three sisters; as a wife with a wonderful caring husband; and as a stay at home mother of a preadolescent adorable child. Melanie Gideon in the phases she has lived asks herself what has she achieved as she ponders whether future generations of Gideon’s will know her name; the answer is probably yes due to this amusing memoir that reflects on her life. The best part of THE SLIPPERY YEARS is the self assessment that would please Covey’s Seven Habits. The impetus for the internal review was her spouse buying a vehicle that has no logical place in the burbs where they live. Her conclusion was that she had misplaced or killed her spontaneous gene while her husband still did the occasional inane escapes like they did when they were in their twenties; when they lived life as if there was no tomorrow and ironically also felt immortal. The biggest change that made them cost conscience was the birth of their child; cost conscience until her husband buys the van. As she realizes “the changing from sunlight to moonlight” (Reflections on My Life by Marmalade), Ms. Gideon vows to recapture some of those sun rays as their kid is okay and will not mind her parents doing something silly; or at least the child will get over it fast if she perceives it as embarrassing; as children are resilient. This is a winner that will have the audience reflect on their lives and wonder if that is what they want their offspring to remember about them.

Harriet Klausner