9 1/2 NARROW

A funny and poignant “memoir in shoes” about being young, coming of age, getting older and the shoes that carry us through all of it.

Shoes tell compelling stories, and Patricia Morrisroe, a longtime shoe lover, has a vivid memory of the confirmation “wedgies” that celebrated her entrance to adulthood; the granny boots that marked her first love; the ostrich flats she wore to her girlfriend’s funeral; and the New Balance sneakers she bought her elderly mother who was losing her balance and too proud to use a walker.

Weaving anecdotes with tidbits of cultural history, Morrisroe offers an insightful memoir on the zeitgeist of the shoe through the decades, as well as hilarious portraits of the unforgettable characters who shared her journey. There’s the Woody Allen-type boyfriend who fell in love with her Annie Hall oxfords, the husband devoted to his vintage Puma sneakers, and a niece Morrisroe has rarely seen outside her toe shoes. Morrisroe wrote about several of these memorable personalities in a popular Modern Love column for the New York Times and then in a series of fashion essays for Vogue. In 9 ⁄ NARROW, she expands her meditations, offering a witty and poignant memoir that will delight and inspire women of all ages, especially those who found laughter and solace in Love, Loss, and What I Wore and I Feel Bad About My Neck.

Patricia Morrisroe is the author of two books: Wide Awake: A Memoir of Insomnia and Mapplethorpe: A Biography. She was a contributing editor at New York Magazine and has also written for Vanity Fair, The New York Times, Vogue, and many other major magazines.