Tol­stoy wrote: ​“Hap­py fam­i­lies are all alike: every unhap­py fam­i­ly is unhap­py in its own way.” This is not the first time a hap­py fam­i­ly has been dis­sect­ed. Tra­cy Far­ber, the hero­ine, makes cer­tain that we con­cen­trate on mean­ing. She is an Eng­lish pro­fes­sor, after all, and spends much time search­ing for rea­sons and inti­ma­tions in mod­ern Amer­i­can lit­er­a­ture. There is a lot of trou­ble in the aca­d­e­m­ic par­adise that is Tracy’s. Dur­ing the explo­ration of Tracy’s world, Ms. Kadish gives the read­er thought­ful inter­pre­ta­tions of Amer­i­can authors and how their philoso­phies relate to life and the mean­ing of hap­pi­ness. In the end, Ms. Kadish describes life for the read­er, telling us that hap­pi­ness takes courage and work. 

This is a good read but needs some edit­ing. The author’s voice is heard often and we get the feel­ing of an auto­bi­og­ra­phy but still, we do not need, or want to hear every sin­gle moment of her deci­sion making.