Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life by Amy Rosenthal (229 pages)

Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life by Amy Rosenthal (229 pages)

Rosenthal declares, “I have not survived against all odds. I have not lived to tell. I have not witnessed the extraordinary. This is my story.” You may then question, how do we define our lives as ordinary or extraordinary? Amy Rosenthal explores her (extra)ordinary life in the book, Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life by cataloging things that she feels define her and examining things that we all have in common.

The book is organized like a true encyclopedia, beginning with the letter A and ending with Z, but instead of dry analysis and explanation that we connect with encyclopedias, Rosenthal’s entries are brief, witty, and entertaining. The entries describe her life, emotions, observations, and descriptions of things such as Karma, Jason (her husband), French fries, and “Right Foot.” Because her life is organized alphabetically and not chronologically, Rosenthal provides cross-references between subjects that are connected, however, you don’t need to hunt down connecting entries to understand her story.

The joy in reading this book is that it is ordinary, and in that, extraordinary. As humans, we are known for our ability to sympathize, or understand what others are experiencing. However, often we are lacking in our ability to empathize, or share a mutual experience. When you read about someone’s survival story, while thrilling and inspirational, unless we were with this survivor, we can sympathize, but not empathize. Rosenthal breaks the barrier and creates empathy with her readers because she describes things that we all experience. In Amy’s words, “I shopped for groceries. I stubbed my toe. […] I wrote my name with my finger on a cold, fogged-up window. I used a dictionary” (219). While none of these are significant, they are inspiring, as if saying, “look at the similarities between us, we’re all human, we are sharing something.”

The Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life is a quick and enlightening read. Rosenthal develops simple life pleasures into monumental, life altering things. In the beginning, she claims that she doesn’t possess an interesting story; she doesn’t have any inspirational moments to share. However, ultimately this is untrue and is what makes her book unique and meaningful.

“I was here, you see. I was” (219).

P.S. the 100^th person to write to Amy will receive a pie, made by the fore mentioned Amy

Reviewed by K.S.