This Day: Diaries from American Women

by Joni B. Cole, B.K. Rakhra, Rebecca Joffrey

Book Overview

Prepare to be transported to corporate boardrooms, television studios, prisons, concert halls, classrooms, and an amazing array of households across our country--all described in the words of the women who were actually there.
Drawn from an extraordinary project in which more than five hundred women from all walks of life kept diaries on a single day, the collective voices reach across experiential, cultural, geographical, and socioeconomic boundaries...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1582701024
• ISBN13: 9781582701028
• Release Date: August 2002
• Publisher: Atria Books
• Length: 350 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.2" x 9.7"

Customer Reviews

Fabulous book!

I heard about this book on a podcast, and I bought it not really knowing if I'd like it. I was pleasantly surprised: I'm really enjoying it! I'm not reading it cover to cover; rather, I dip into it each night before bedtime. It's fascinating to read what the lives of women are like all over America - so different, yet so similar. I would recommend this book highly to everyone!

Marvelous!

I really enjoyed this book. It weaves a rich fabric of true stories--diaries--of one day in the life of a variety of women. Excerpts from many women, and those whose day diaries are published in full, show humorous and poignant experiences, and a wonderful array of thoughts, feelings, fears, gratitude. It's easy to identify with many of the women, and to marvel at their strength and resiliance. Included are : a soldier in Iraq, a firefighter, a grandmother, an astronaut, a factory worker, a country singer, a medical secretary, owner of a safari company, an at-home mother, a foreign correspondent, and many others from all walks of life. There's something here for everyone!

Amazing stories from amazing women like me!

I first read about this wonderful book on one of the services that provides reading guides for book clubs. I was intrigued by the premise, and knew I had to buy it. This is one book that did not let me down! I was captivated from the moment I began. I read in greed, hungering for the next diary entry. I completed it much too quickly, and had to re-read some entries. I found myself wondering about some of the women. (Many are still on my mind.) I am so pleased that book two is in the works. This is a book that is too good to miss.

A one day glimpse into the lives of several American women

Have you ever looked out of an airplane and wondered about the people living in the match- box houses below? Who are these people? What were they doing when you just flew over them?Feeling down one day, writer Joni B. Cole decided to email a few women from different circles of her life and ask what a day in their life was actually like? I guess this would be something akin to looking down from my airplane. As she points out, "the responses they sent back were illuminating. Part itinerary, part journal, these `day diaries' revealed their lives from the inside out-showing not only how they spent their time, but what was in their heads, and hearts as they went through those twenty-four hours." Prodded on by the responses she received, Cole and two other partners, Rebecca Joffrey and B.K. Rakhra, decided to invite women across the USA to participate in a kind of survey, where they would write a personal and candid diary as to what they were doing and thinking on Tuesday Oct 15th, 2002. Why Oct 15th? "It was a window in the American calendar, unencumbered with holidays or national significance."The culmination of the survey resulted in the publication of a book entitled: This Day: Diaries from American Women.Five hundred and twenty nine women contributed day diaries, and of these, thirty- five had been published. In addition, there were excerpts taken from several other day diaries.Many of the respondents displayed a great deal of optimism, notwithstanding that their lives were not always a bowl of cherries. One very touching diary concerned a wife who was a full-time caregiver to a husband with Lou Gehrig's disease. She read books to look for magic in her life. What is fascinating is some of the data extrapolated from the diaries. As an example, 64% of day diarists felt stressed out, 47% worried about money, 57% didn't get enough sleep, 22% cried, and 55% prayed.When I interviewed the three editors, and asked them what information did they feel came as a surprise, Cole indicated: "she was moved by the honesty of these day diaries. Women wrote the truth about their daily experience, their relationships, and their feelings. Their openness and generosity still takes me by surprise. It makes me appreciate these women-and women in general-all the more." To this, my reply is, Amen!Although the book is not meant as a scientific study, it certainly is an eye-opener.In fact, it would make a useful addition to a suggested reading list for university or college courses pertaining to feminism or relationships.This review first appeared on the reviewer's own siteBookpleasures.com

Ever wanted to peek inside a friend's diary?

This book is so fascinating, so perfectly composed, you won't be able to put it down once you open it up. The idea is quite simple -- ask a diverse group of women across the country to keep a diary on one day. The result is complicated, joyous, sad, and amazingly interesting. If you've ever wanted to peek inside a friend's diary, ever wondered what women are really thinking, this book is for you!