The Unspeakable: And Other Subjects of Discussion

Los Angeles Times columnist Daum articulates “the spin we put on our lives” through a genuine, unaffected narration of her well-written essay collection. The audio edition is bookended with meditations on mortality: it opens with “Matricide,” the story of her problematic relationship with her mother and her mother’s death, and closes with “Diary of a Coma,” about Daum’s own very close brush with death. In between, she speaks eloquently about her choice not to have children, lesbianism, Joni Mitchell, Nora Ephron, foster care advocacy, dogs, and food. Daum writes with intelligence and wit, and she reads with the confidence of someone who has reflected at length on her life and her choices, and then mined that material for this collection of “unspeakable thoughts.” She employs an unsentimental, often inflectionless tone, most notably during “Matricide.” The exception to this delivery style is in her essay on dogs, where she is less guarded and more relaxed, loving, and poetic, breaking listeners’ hearts with the pain of losing her beloved dog, Rex. Daum is a daring and sometimes provocative writer; her voice is mellow and conversational, and she possesses the storyteller’s ability to draw listeners in with her pleasing rhythm and relatable experiences. A Farrar, Straus and Giroux hardcover. (Nov.)