A review by itsgg
Hourglass: Time, Memory, Marriage by Dani Shapiro

5.0

This is a beautifully deconstructed memoir, not so much a story as a constellation of moments that make up a life. Shapiro's prose is captivating, the glue that holds everything together. This passage from the book itself is, I think, the best way to describe it: "But like every fixed idea, this one has lost its hold on me as years have passed and the onrushing present — the only place from which the writer can tell the story — continues to shift along with the sands of time. Our recollections alter as we attempt to gather them. Even retrospect is mutable. Perspective, a momentary figment of consciousness. Memoir freezes a moment like an insect trapped in amber. Me now, me then. This woman, that girl. It all keeps changing. And so: If retrospect is an illusion, then why not attempt to tell the story as I’m inside of it? Which is to say: before the story has become a story?"