A Smoke and a Song: A Memoir
Sherry Sidoti
(Author)
Description
What is the true source of spiritual freedom? Faced with the impending loss of her mother just as her new start on life is beginning, Sherry Sidoti chooses to lean in to the memories homed in her body, turn to her yoga and mindfulness practice, and forge forward with self-awareness in an attempt to answer one of life's most elusive questions.Product Details
Price
$17.95
$16.69
Publisher
She Writes Press
Publish Date
August 01, 2023
Pages
304
Dimensions
5.43 X 8.43 X 1.1 inches | 1.06 pounds
Language
English
Type
Paperback
EAN/UPC
9781647425098
BISAC Categories:
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About the Author
Sherry Sidoti is an author and the founder and lead director of FLY Yoga School, a yoga teacher training program, and FLY Outreach, a not-for-profit that offers yoga and meditation for trauma recovery on Martha's Vineyard. A certified Labor Doula, Addiction Recovery Coach, and Somatic Attachment Therapy Program graduate, she leads spiritual courses, teacher training, and retreats globally. Her musings, infused by twenty years of practicing and teaching yoga, healing arts, and mysticism have been published by The Martha's Vineyard Times, Heart & Soul Magazine, Elephant Journal, and Anthropology and Humanism Quarterly. Her essay "Mosaics" is featured in the 2022 She Writes Anthology: Art in Times of Unbearable Crisis. Sherry is most devoted to her greatest teacher, her son Miles, whose love, sensitivity, humor, and wisdom illuminate her path. A Smoke and a Song is Sherry's first book. She currently resides on Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts.
Reviews
"In lyrical, at times searing, prose, [Sidoti] captures her core loneliness. Her story is a riveting intergenerational tale of women doing the best they can, sometimes failing painfully."
-Kirkus Reviews "She [Sidoti] ultimately makes peace with these past selves by discussing her traumas with her family and using various spiritual practices, including yoga, to remind herself that 'new life is blooming. Loss is looming. And both gladness and grief grip at the gate.' This is powerful stuff."
--Publishers Weekly "Inspiring and reflective, A Smoke and A Song should be required reading for anyone looking within and beyond. Sherry Sidoti weaves us through a journey of self-discovery, heartbreak, and self-actualization. She brings to life each part of ourselves--the parts we know and the parts we have a harder time listening to--all in the name of self-love."
--Chelsea Handler, #1 New York Times best-selling author, comedian, and Dear Chelsea podcast host
"Earthy and magical, A Smoke and a Song is a woman's anthem. With the heart of a mother and the soul of a warrior, Sherry Sidoti takes us on her unwavering quest towards self-agency, braiding music, poetry, art, culture, and mysticism with grounded spirituality and a wry New York City 'edge.' This story is steeped in healing tools from the author's decades of study and teaching, without being pushy or prescriptive. Sidoti trusts her readers to mine the raw ore from her story and polish it into gold for their own."
--Anita Kopacz, best-selling author of Shallow Waters: A Novel
"A Smoke and a Song is a winning book! Sherry Sidoti's prose is absolutely gorgeous--lyrical and tender, moody and insightful, mystical and relatable. You'll laugh, you'll cry. A memoir told with such nuanced self-awareness; you'll find yourself needing to put the book down at moments just to pause, take in her reflections, and make meaning of your own story through hers."
--Nancy Slonim Aronie, author of Writing from the Heart and Memoir as Medicine
"I discovered the poet Stanley Kunitz while I was a college student at NYU and his words saved my life; still do. All these years later, his granddaughter's words are saving my life and if that isn't magic, I dare you to tell me what is. By sharing her story, Sherry Sidoti invites us to remember what it is to love deeply and then to go out into the world with that knowing so that we can live big, beautiful, and messy lives."
--Jennifer Pastiloff, best-selling author of On Being Human
"Sherry Sidoti beautifully weaves together a deeply moving memoir that captures the many complexities of love and our relationship with the ones we care about the most. I came away moved and inspired by her willingness to be so transparent and authentic."
--Paul Samuel Dolman, author of Hitchhiking with Larry David and What Matters Most podcast host
"A seeker's story of healing intergenerational trauma. In her unwavering commitment to heal, with body informed awareness, the author alchemizes inherited history to rewrite her own narrative breath by breath, beat by beat. Every broken family system has a healer. Sherry Sidoti is one."
--Shalom Harlow, model, actress, and yogini
"Yearning and desire ooze from between the lines in this complicated family memoir exquisitely written by a New York City girl. Sherry Sidoti's words pull us through her life stages with love, humor, and raw honesty as she seeks self-compassion. When you finish, you'll want to start
-Kirkus Reviews "She [Sidoti] ultimately makes peace with these past selves by discussing her traumas with her family and using various spiritual practices, including yoga, to remind herself that 'new life is blooming. Loss is looming. And both gladness and grief grip at the gate.' This is powerful stuff."
--Publishers Weekly "Inspiring and reflective, A Smoke and A Song should be required reading for anyone looking within and beyond. Sherry Sidoti weaves us through a journey of self-discovery, heartbreak, and self-actualization. She brings to life each part of ourselves--the parts we know and the parts we have a harder time listening to--all in the name of self-love."
--Chelsea Handler, #1 New York Times best-selling author, comedian, and Dear Chelsea podcast host
"Earthy and magical, A Smoke and a Song is a woman's anthem. With the heart of a mother and the soul of a warrior, Sherry Sidoti takes us on her unwavering quest towards self-agency, braiding music, poetry, art, culture, and mysticism with grounded spirituality and a wry New York City 'edge.' This story is steeped in healing tools from the author's decades of study and teaching, without being pushy or prescriptive. Sidoti trusts her readers to mine the raw ore from her story and polish it into gold for their own."
--Anita Kopacz, best-selling author of Shallow Waters: A Novel
"A Smoke and a Song is a winning book! Sherry Sidoti's prose is absolutely gorgeous--lyrical and tender, moody and insightful, mystical and relatable. You'll laugh, you'll cry. A memoir told with such nuanced self-awareness; you'll find yourself needing to put the book down at moments just to pause, take in her reflections, and make meaning of your own story through hers."
--Nancy Slonim Aronie, author of Writing from the Heart and Memoir as Medicine
"I discovered the poet Stanley Kunitz while I was a college student at NYU and his words saved my life; still do. All these years later, his granddaughter's words are saving my life and if that isn't magic, I dare you to tell me what is. By sharing her story, Sherry Sidoti invites us to remember what it is to love deeply and then to go out into the world with that knowing so that we can live big, beautiful, and messy lives."
--Jennifer Pastiloff, best-selling author of On Being Human
"Sherry Sidoti beautifully weaves together a deeply moving memoir that captures the many complexities of love and our relationship with the ones we care about the most. I came away moved and inspired by her willingness to be so transparent and authentic."
--Paul Samuel Dolman, author of Hitchhiking with Larry David and What Matters Most podcast host
"A seeker's story of healing intergenerational trauma. In her unwavering commitment to heal, with body informed awareness, the author alchemizes inherited history to rewrite her own narrative breath by breath, beat by beat. Every broken family system has a healer. Sherry Sidoti is one."
--Shalom Harlow, model, actress, and yogini
"Yearning and desire ooze from between the lines in this complicated family memoir exquisitely written by a New York City girl. Sherry Sidoti's words pull us through her life stages with love, humor, and raw honesty as she seeks self-compassion. When you finish, you'll want to start
