Driven: A White-Knuckled Ride to Heartbreak and Back

"Wanderlust is instilled in Stephenson from a young age, and cars both enable her spirit of adventure and allow her to get at intangible emotions while dealing with very tangible objects...Moving...We need more stories from women like [this]...[who] crave new experiences and knowledge, and are frank about the compromises they have to make for their families."--Outside "Driven is an edgy memoir of cars, crises, and coming of age...[it's] worth reading for a quality more difficult to portray in dust jacket copy: being in the hands of a real writer and watching the mastery of craft on the page as [Stephenson] condenses and expands the moments of ordinary life into story, casting for insight and meaning...It's clear we're in the hands of a professional...[she] sets a scene so we feel like we're inside her skin...Stephenson exploits the bread and butter of memoir -- parsing childhood experiences and complicated family dynamics -- but Driven also explores edgier, more experimental terrain...Both the irony, and the beauty, of this book is that it isn't so much a story about her brother at all. This story is hers."--Texas Observer "Reading Melissa Stephenson's memoir Driven is like listening to a cool older cousin recount her version of your family history. The Missoula-based author references her own adventures (hitchhiking in Alaska, walking the Appalachian Trail solo) almost as asides, letting them quietly illustrate her strength of character without overtaking the main focus: her relationship with her troubled older brother, Matthew, and what his suicide at 28 revealed about the loved ones he left behind...Vividly specific [and] universal."--Missoula Independent "It is the kind of busted knuckle-geekiness obsession Stephenson brings to her story, with humor and all-too-familiar pathos over simple details of any given automobile, that makes this book something special...Stephenson can flat-out write. She is a marvelous storyteller, with clean, simple prose that bears a surprising amount of emotional weight. Memoirs only work if the writer can make the reader care about their life -- and that is far from automatic. Stephenson succeeds, and Driven is a debut to be proud of and a story, though often gut-wrenching, that many people will love."--Missoulian "For Melissa Stephenson, cars represented getting out of her hometown in Indiana and steering herself her toward a promising future. Her memoir touches on depression, suicide, grief, and alcoholism, and how through it all, she kept moving forward. Driven will take you on a ride -- one that you'll seriously enjoy and think about for years to come."--Hello Giggles "In a passionate memoir, Stephenson finds comfort and freedom in the cars that grounded the turbulence and restlessness of her life."--Shelf Awareness "A compassionate and honest narrative."--The Write Question, Montana Public Radio "A coming-of-age memoir about wanderlust, grief, and perseverance, Stephenson's first book packs an emotional wallop . . . Readers of grief memoirs will especially want to seek this out, but so should anyone looking for a story of finding strength in oneself."--Booklist "What a thrill to ride shotgun with Melissa Stephenson, 'Werewolves of London' blasting as she takes us along on a keen-eyed, big-hearted, and quintessentially American road-trip to self-discovery and a deeper understanding of her late, troubled, and charismatic older brother."--Rob Spillman, author of All Tomorrow's Parties "Melissa S --