Shoes forever fascinate, beguile and draw women in with an almost irresistible allure. My Life in Shoes is Pamela L. Laskin's personal journey from childhood through adulthood, told in a series of first person narratives, all of which focus on her love, fascination and ambivalent relationship to shoes. There are many shoe memories: an awful pair of oxfords; her first pair of Mary Janes; forcing her feet into grown-up shoes, for the sake of beauty; her desire to discover the "right fit" for her personal identity. There is also the concept that perhaps we need to go "shoeless" in order to leave behind the gross-consumerism which daily haunts us. The concept of "dressed" feet and the split between mothers and daughters addresses the age-old theme that we all have "ghosts" in our shoe closet. Laskin's memoir addresses her mother's schizophrenia and her desire to unearth beautiful slippers to take her far away from her mother. Shoes possess magic and it is the fairy tale metaphor of self-discovery which is at the heart and soul of My Life in Shoes. It is every woman's fantasy: to rub those ruby-red slippers and find, "there is no place like home." "With her usual no holds-barred honesty Pamela Laskin brings her unique perspectives on being an outsider, mental illness, adolescence, love, loss, and survival within the framework of the different footwear she has loved and loathed. This is a smart and moving memoir written with poetic eloquence that pulls no punches and disarmingly explores a woman's heart through her relationship with shoes." -Suzanne Weyn, author, Distant Waves "You don't have to be a shoe-lover to be moved by Pam Laskin's My Life in Shoes. To remember each special pair is to unlock memories and mysteries--of growing up under difficult family circumstances, of striving to excel and be accepted in New York City, to ultimately creating belonging and love to call her own. Be them Mary Janes, Fred Brauns, or Crocs, the shoes lead the way to poignant storytelling." -Stacy Parker Le Melle, author, Government Girl: Young and Female in the White House