This Is How I Speak: The Diary of a Young Woman

by Sandi Sonnenfeld

This Is How I Speak, a memoir in diary form, is an intimate portrait of a young woman's first year in graduate school as a student of dance and creative writing at the University of Washington during the late 1980s. The book explores a number of themes, including complex relationships, ambition, fear, sexual assault and forgiveness.

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir

168 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2002

About the author

Sandi Sonnenfeld is a fiction writer and essayist. Her memoir, This Is How I Speak (2002: Impassio Press), which recounts how her views about what it means to be a woman in contemporary America changed after suffering a dangerous sexual assault, was a Booksense 76 finalist. With the memoir’s publication, she was named a 2002 Celebration Author by the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association, which recognizes writers whose work merits special notice.

Sandi's short stories and essays have appeared in more than 30 literary magazines and anthologies, including Sojourner, Voices West, Hayden’s Ferry Review, ACM, Raven Chronicles, Necessary Fiction, Perigee, Revolution House and The Doctor TJ Eckleburg Review among others. A graduate of Mount Holyoke College, Sandi holds an MFA in Fiction Writing from the University of Washington, where she won the Loren D. Milliman Writing Fellowship. She currently resides in Brooklyn, NY with her husband and the world’s most perfect cat.

Reviews

[Kj · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting and sometimes frustrating book to read. I found it on a $2 table and the fact that it is a 'local' read, and by an MFA student, and journal form all piqued my interest.

[Rhonda Rae Baker · Rating 4 out of 5]

This journal interested me because I used to dance and understand the psychological aspects that challenge dancers and what can alter their self image. Also, that she is a writer attending an MFA program in Washington. A narrative of her first year with such emotional integrity that the story touched me deeply.

I'm surprised and yet very pleased that this method of publication really worked for Sandi. She opened herself up and peeled back the layers in such a way that I became involved in her story personally. Remembering those younger years of trying to find my way and all the blind choices.

I think that I'm still in shock with how human she is and how alike we really because of that fact. From gender emotions, performance facades, trying to relate to other young women, and wondering what it is to have a relationship. Realizing that someone she most admired and sought for approval was just as human as her. This is life...we learn and grow along the way and reading this diary reminded me to not allow the perfectionist inside to rule. We first must show compassion for ourselves and only then can we have true relationships.

Highly recommended for any woman who isn't afraid to look insider her own heart and be completely honest about the way our world is.