Jan Vallone: Jan Vallone Article--The Seattle Times

Saturday, June 11, 2011

Read Jan Vallone's recent article in The Seattle Times:

http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/mobile/?type=story&id=2015289212&

About Pieces of Someday, a Memoir

At the age of forty-four, Jan Vallone is everything her Italian American parents brought her up to be—a lawyer, wife and mother who owns a vintage home and takes European vacations. But instead of feeling happy and successful, she’s consumed by frustration and anxiety that threaten to shatter her marriage and have dimmed her faith. Discarding prosperity and prestige, she takes a job teaching English at a yeshiva—an Orthodox Jewish high school—though she was raised Catholic. There, she opens her heart to her students, who bloom under her tutelage and teach her the meaning of faith and fulfillment.

Set in New York, Seattle and Italy, this memoir portrays how one woman fuses the facets of her life—family, career, ethnicity, spirituality and dreams—into a cohesive picture as luminous as stained glass.

About the Author

Born in Brooklyn and raised on Long Island, Jan Vallone is the granddaughter of Sicilian immigrants. An insatiable life-long learner, she holds a law degree from New York University School of Law, a Masters in Teaching from Seattle Pacific University and a Master in Fine Arts in Creative Writing from Goddard College. She has also done graduate work at the Bread Loaf School of English at Middlebury College. After practicing law for eighteen years in Manhattan and in Seattle, Jan became an English teacher at a yeshiva high school. There, she and her students founded a literary journal rated excellent by The National Council of Teachers of English. Currently, Jan teaches literature and writing at a Pacific Northwest university. Her stories have appeared in The Seattle Times, Catholic Digest, Guideposts Magazine, English Journal, Chicken Soup for the Soul, Writing it Real and Curriculum in Context. Pieces of Someday, a memoir, is her first full-length book. When Jan is not writing, reading or teaching, she enjoys gardening, Italian language study, traveling and spending time with her husband, children and friends.

Praise for Pieces of Someday

“Great memoirs are characterized by the quality of their attention to the universal, quotidian experiences of human life—and the honest, courageous exploration of the self, proverbial warts and all. By this measure, Jan Vallone’s memoir, Pieces of Someday, is a wonderful addition to the literature. Vallone’s narrative gift—by turns lyrical, funny, and raw—combined with her awareness of grace, provides the “fusion and repair” that render a life whole and meaningful. Read about her life and gain new insight into yours.”

—Gregory Wolfe, editor of Image and author Intruding upon the Timeless: Mediations on Art, Faith, and Mystery

“Pieces of Someday is a gripping chronicle of one woman’s disappointments and blessings. In this striking debut, Jan Vallone writes with tenderness, wisdom, and humor about family, faith, and legacies, and finding a place in the world.”

—Jocelyn Lieu, author of What Isn’t There: Inside a Season of Change

“Jan Vallone's memoir is something rare: a story that is deeply personal, and yet one that will resonate with countless contemporary women seeking some deeper gratification beneath the surface of success. Her candor and her pointillist's eye for detail emerge in writing crafted with power and precision.”

—David Sobel, editor and writer, instructor at Eugene Lang College, The New School

“Jan Vallone pulls our common experience into her personal memoir by weaving surprises through every chapter—some challenging, some unsettling, some smashing into truth, others gently leading to revelation.”

—Gwen Mansfield, teacher, author of the novel Experiment Station Road

“Pieces of Someday is a beautifully-written account of fathers and daughters, teachers and students, successes and failures—the wonderful offspring of what Vallone calls her ‘dominant ponder gene.’ Holding up a defiant hand against the cynicism that has come to mark so much of America's story, she insists that the greatest success may be measured, not in the things we accumulate, but in the lives we touch.”

—Les Lamkin, teacher, author of the fiction collection Happiness is a Dead Wife

“Vallone's prose shifts and gleams as surely and mysteriously as kaleidoscopic light.”

—Dani Boss, teacher, author of the memoir Little America

“I laughed, I cried—mostly I related. Pieces of Someday is unflinching—a heart-wrenching memoir about one woman's battle against expectations. With this book, Jan Vallone brings light into the world and shows you've got to believe in people.”

—Isla McKetta, editor of Forum Magazine

In Pieces of Someday, Jan Vallone weaves vivid imagery and exquisite turns of phrase into a winning memoir of self-discovery and hope.”

—Nita Sweeney, author of the memoir Memorial: Our Last Year on the Links

“A gripping and earnest account of one woman's search for what truly matters in life.”

—Roxana Arama

“I was at once seized by this book. The story of Vallone’s life in New York, Seattle and Italy is one to which every hungry reader can relate. Vallone’s work is joyful, impassioned, and endearing; her book is truly a celebration of her life as a teacher, her reverence for tradition, and the embracing of multicultural paths.”

—Julie Greene, author of the memoir This Hunger Is Secret: My Journeys through Mental Illness and Wellness http://juliemadblogger.wordpress.com

“Pieces of Someday introduces its own distinctive literary style. Jan Vallone paints her own life in a form of a mosaic stained glass and disregards the traditional format of a memoir which narrates life episodes chronologically. As a gifted storyteller, Jan Vallone tells her story in mystical rhythm that harmonizes the literary tones throughout her narrative.

As a mid-career professional woman who seemingly has everything in life, Jan Vallone passionately pursues her goal of happiness by believing in true contentment beyond riches and fame. In her memoir, she reveals her unfiltered view of her self-reliance, free from the worldly success of her father. Unlike those who are accustomed to comfort and security, Jan Vallone keeps her dream faithfully, following her heart away from the pressure her father had imposed upon her.”

—Suck-Min Kim

“Vallone’s life blooms on these pages like the flowers in her garden—fragrant, colorful, real.”

—David Berg, computer technician and musician

“Pieces of Someday is an irresistible and important look at one woman’s choices. From the dutiful path of Catholicism and law to the passion and emotional risk of teaching English in a yeshiva, Vallone captures the poignancy of her life with fine prose that takes the reader to the heart of each event. She is a born teacher and her writing conveys this dedication with a fluid and captivating style.”

—Ann Keeling, writer and teacher

“An authentic and inspiring memoir of love, hope and self-discovery.”

—Teresa Daggett, lawyer, Quantum Law, PLLC, http://quantumlaw.net

“With courage and humor, Vallone tells of her struggle with prominent ideas about career, religion, beauty and gender roles. Pieces of Someday takes on the myth that life is a vector; to read it is to appreciate the beauty and imperfection of our own stained glass lives.”

—Priya Keefe, writer/performer of the CD From the Lips of Town Criers

Jan Vallone

Saturday, June 11, 2011

Jan Vallone Article--The Seattle Times

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