Title Information
Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life

By Amy Krouse Rosenthal

Category: Biography & Autobiography, Memoirs, Humor
Publisher: Crown Publishers
Format: Hardcover, 240 pages, Illustrated
Pub Date: January 2005
Price: $23.00
ISBN: 1400080452

See the website for this book.


How do you conjure a life? Give the truest account of what you saw, felt, learned, loved, strived for? For Amy Krouse Rosenthal, the surprising answer came in the form of an encyclopedia. In Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life she has ingeniously adapted this centuries-old format for conveying knowledge into a poignant, wise, often funny, fully realized memoir. Using mostly short entries organized from A to Z, many of which are cross-referenced, Rosenthal captures in wonderful and episodic detail the moments, observations, and emotions that comprise a contemporary life. Start anywhere—preferably at the beginning—and see how one young woman’s alphabetized existence can open up and define the world in new and unexpected ways.

An ordinary life, perhaps, but an extraordinary book.

Deloris Jordan is Michael Jordan's mother and the coauthor of Salt in His Shoes, which Booklist called "inspirational," and Family First, a book highlighting the seven principles of parenting. Through her work with the James Jordan Boys and Girls Club and Family Life Center in Chicago, Illinois, as well as the Jordan Institute for Family at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Mrs. Jordan is widely regarded as an advocate for children and families. The mother of five children and the grandmother of eleven, Mrs. Jordan lives in Chicago, Illinois, where she is at work on her next book for children.

Roslyn M. Jordan is Michael Jordan's sister and the coauthor of Salt in His Shoes with Deloris Jordan. The founder and president of Another Jordan Incorporated, she lives in Chicago, Illinois.

Shane W. Evans is the award-winning illustrator of many children's books, including No More! by Doreen Rappaport, Bintou's Braids by Sylviane A. Diouf, and Homemade Love by Bell Hooks. Mr. Evans lives in Kansas City, Missouri.