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The Muse Moves On: A Memoir Reviewed By June Maffin of Bookpleasures.com
- By June Maffin
- Published January 11, 2012
- Biographies & Memoirs
June Maffin
Reviewer June Maffin:Living on an island in British Columbia, Canada, Dr. Maffin is a neophyte organic gardener, eclectic reader, ordained minister (Anglican/Episcopal priest) and creative spirituality writer/photographer with a deep zest for life. Previously, she has been grief counselor, broadcaster, teacher, journalist, television host, chaplain and spiritual director with an earned doctorate in Pastoral Care (medical ethics i.e. euthanasia focus). Presently an educator, freelance editor, blogger, and published author of three books, her most recent (Soulistry-Artistry of the Soul: Creative Ways to Nurture your Spirituality) has been published in e-book as well as paperback format and a preview can be viewed on YouTube videos. Founder of Soulistry™ she continues to lead a variety of workshops and retreats connecting spirituality with creativity and delights in a spirituality of play. You can find out more about June by clicking on her Web Site.
Click Here To Purchase The Muse Moves On: A Memoir
Author: Rita M. Kallerhoff
Publisher: The K Studios, New York
ISBN: 978-0-98315333-3-7
The literary genre known
as ‘memoir’ is not a life story from beginning to end that
requires research, dates and double-checked facts, as is an
autobiography. Rather, as Gore Vidal wrote in 'Palimpset', a
memoir is simply "how one remembers one's own life.”
A
*powerful* memoir is not only narrative in nature exploring the
writer’s memory of past events and other people, it is reflective
about the things or people that influenced the writer; it consists of
highlights linked in story form that point out an underlying theme,
emphasizing problem-resolution or why something happened; and it is
reflective of the author’s self-questioning about
lessons-learned.
Henry David Thoreau said, “What lies
behind us and what lies ahead of us are tiny matters compared to what
lives within us.” In other words, ‘meaning’ and ‘relevance’
are vital to excellence in memoir-writing. Is 'The Muse Moves
On: A Memoir' an example of excellence in memoir-writing?
The author begins with captivating words: “I was not a wanted child, and I knew it even while still in the womb.” Before the book’s first paragraph ends, Kallerhoff describes herself as an artist whose “birth in the medium of color was a combination of my brother’s exotic stamp collection and my mother’s equally exotic wardrobe.” By page three, the reader has encountered a strong independent spirit desperately wanting to “became a dreamer, fleeing to a better world of my own creation” whose “mistrust of the human race has lasted a lifetime” and whose “intense flirtation with the world of acting and theatre instilled in me a lifelong passion for reading.” A wonderful introduction!
It is not surprising that
the author’s life was unusual and at times eccentric as she
travelled the world; encountered muses from whom she sought love,
acceptance and inspiration; and painted whenever and wherever she
went, untroubled by financial constraints because of the financial
support of her benefactor, The Patron.
Kallerhoff believed
that “to live in the moment and be a free thinker” was paramount
to being an artist, and so that is the life she led and described in
her journey through exotic lands, fascinating people, affluence,
self-absorption, guile and nuances of artistic temperament alongside
creative talent and life’s dark shadows.
While the
author weaves a fascinating story interspersed with photos of her
life and art, there are gaps -
Of her time in India, she
writes: “all of these different cultures and landscapes changed me
and my thinking” (p 69)
Having been the recipient of
a seemingly never-ending supply of financial support from The Patron,
she writes “I hopefully would do the same for an artist
just like me” (p 115).
Reflecting on one of the muses
she encounters on her life’s journey, she notes “she seemed to
possess all the qualities of a muse that keep an artist like me
working and dreaming, day and night” (p 168)
Reflecting on
the last muse she writes “like an indulgent mother, I continued to
give in to his fancies, unable to resist his youthful enthusiasms.
I had gained a son and muse with whom I could be childish and
creative.” (p 218) and the reader is left
with unanswered questions … “How was Kellerhoff changed by the
culture/landscape of India?” ... “Did she become The Patron to
another artist?” ... “What is her understanding of the qualities
of a muse?” ... “What was there about Sharif that made him such a
muse?”
Had the author been challenged to explore her responses to these questions and had she written the rest of the book in the style of these two sentences:
“Standing alone on the terrace of my new home, I noticed that, though the house was drenched in sunlight, there was an unexplained dark quality to it. I could hear sand shifting within the thick, cool walls, perhaps caused by breeding snakes that hid within”
she could have had a powerful and exceptional memoir.
This is a readable, interesting and at times, a fascinating book, but it could have been so much more.