Longlisted for the PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay.
Finalist for the Creative Nonfiction Award (the “Firecracker” award) from the Community of Literary Magazines and Presses
How do you learn to think for yourself? How do you acquire intellectual independence and confidence, especially after a girlhood of escapism and intimidated conformity? Surrendering Oz tracks one woman’s journey from being a bad and often bored student in the Bronx through the city streets and early jobs that allowed her to understand reality relying on her own perceptions.
Surrendering Oz
A memoir in essays that charts the emotional awakening of a bookish Bronx girl. From her early job as a proofreader at The Guinness Book of World Records through a series of dominating and liberating friendships and secret connections, the author takes charge of her life to become a professor, writer, and wise student of her own soul.
Praise for Surrendering Oz
“One of ten great books from small presses. A top pick.” –Reader’s Digest
[A] fascinating read. Each of Friedman's observations is microscopic in its precision, but her collected wisdom, prolific and sprawling among so many topics, could fill a sea . . . For those of us still seeking permission to act, Friedman's book is strong encouragement." – The Rumpus
“[An] indelible book.” – Lilith magazine.
“[T]he kind of memoir that peels back layers from the reader's own life in the reading. Vivid in metaphor and imagery and incisive in her self-discoveries, Friedman's book serves as both literary banquet and a source of rich emotional wisdom. Friedman deftly dissects issues of identity and voice (particular, perhaps, to being female in American culture) that are rarely articulated with such grace and logic. – Image Journal
“Growing up in the Bronx, Friedman was always buried in a book and in college she ensconced herself further in intellectualism. Then, at age forty-one, a near-stranger kissed her on a subway platform and she embarked on a misguided affair . . .Friedman’s voice is lyrical, deeply sensual. I love her descriptions of the Greek grandmother she met who fed a black kitten a sprinkle of kibble as if it were a chicken and of wearing cocoa-colored lipstick that drifted off her lips like mayonnaise. – Shambhala Sun
“I find my life on every page, it is universal. Every woman who can read should read this book.” – Abigail Thomas, A Three Dog Life
“In these very personal essays, lit by a harsh honesty and graced by a supple, eloquent prose style, the author has dug deep and found her own truth, and in the process triumphantly reconciled with a flawed self.” – Phillip Lopate, The Art of the Personal Essay