Why Animals Sleep so Close to the Road -- Susan Konig: A Book Review

Why Animals Sleep so Close to the Road (And Other Lies I Tell My Children)

Susan Konig

Replica Books, 2005

Susan Konig is a journalist.  She has a husband and three children.  When she started telling the story of selling her home, acquiring a new home, and moving away from the city, she had had only two children.  So begins the modern story of Konig's personal 'white flight' (my words, not hers).

And it is hilarious.  She has trouble selling their apartment, finding a new home, closing the new home, taking care of her children, nursing herself through an awkward third pregnancy, doing freelance work, battling a rat infestation, battling the flu -- all before she goes through the hell of moving.

And did I mention she was pregnant during all this?

Anyway, she gets a new home, settles in, finds life in the suburbs has its own challenges.  She battles a skunk, flooding, life with a third child, getting back in shape, finding babysitters, finding time.

All the time apparently taking notes to write this whirlwind account of a very full and funny life.  She hints at younger, restless days and worries about the future, for herself and for her family.  And she gets it all in in just over two hundred pages.  The full title of the book is:  Why Animals Sleep So Close To The Road (And Other Lies I Tell My Children), a title that immediately says, "Pick me up and read me!"

If you're in that age bracket where denial and acceptance are at war, then you'll understand where Susan Konig is coming from.  Maybe it'll help ease the tension and make the transition a little easier knowing that some people have an even crazier and more hectic lifestyle than do you.