LESSONS OUT OF SCHOOL
Insights Against a Backdrop of the Conflicts of the Late Twentieth and Early Twenty-First Centuries
by Nancy C. Russell illustrated by Jesseca Zollars-Smith
A debut volume of essays blends autobiography, social commentary, and life tips.
Growing up in the Mount Vernon suburbs of New York City during World War II, Russell recalls that close encounters with the conflict were “largely confined to newspapers and radio news.” Following this idyllic childhood came the tumultuous 1960s and ’70s, when the author’s personal life and career ambitions intersected with second-wave feminism, the civil rights movement, and the Vietnam War. These cross sections of national and personal transformations lay at the center of this book’s 35 essays, which combine stories from Russell’s life with historical events and social commentary. Written in an honest, intimate writing style that vacillates between funny and somber, the book discusses topics that range from marijuana and sex to dancing and international travel. While the topics are diverse, many are connected through the theme of gender, drawing on the author’s personal experiences, academic successes (culminating in a doctorate in public health), and three-decade career in cancer epidemiology. One essay, for example, considers how the “rigid genders” portrayed in movies in the ’40s and ’50s were “limiting to both men and women.” Another discusses the “deep-seated unhappiness” of Russell’s mother, which was fundamentally connected to her relationship with men and her conformity to gender norms. “Walking,” for instance, “became excruciatingly painful,” as she insisted on wearing “feminine high heels” despite chronic foot pain. Given Russell’s own academic pedigree, a handful of essays are more scholarly in nature, centered, for example, on the value of subjunctive verb forms or a detailed description of how ancient Egyptians accurately measured Earth’s circumference. The book admits that each essay “is independent of the others,” though this eclectic framework may be frustrating to readers looking for a cohesive collection. Its scattered organization notwithstanding, this volume is a well-written, often poignant work with far more hits than misses among its entries. Many of the chapters are accompanied by original art by Smith, whose surreal and often whimsical drawings are delightful additions to the author’s stories.
An evocative and moving, if sometimes disjointed, collection of essays.