It Was the Way She Said It - Large Print by Terry McMillan (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of How Stella Got Her Groove Back and Waiting to Exhale comes a remarkable, career-spanning collection of short fiction and essays about love, aging, culture and all the things in between.

For the first time, a single volume brings together renowned author Terry McMillan's previously published short fiction and nonfiction pieces, as well as never-before-seen works.

Before McMillan found success as a novelist in the early 1990s, she published provocative, boundary-pushing short stories, capturing the struggles and triumphs of Black life in America with vitality and honesty, from the workaday factory man's malaise in "The End" to the cast-aside lover's resolve in "Touching" to the elderly woman's wiles in "Ma'Dear." McMillan's inimitable voice bravely explores the dark corners of human relationships with compassion, humor, and nuance. This collection also features five unpublished stories that reveal how she wrestled with controversial topics rarely addressed in short fiction, from domestic abuse in "Mama, Take Another Step" to extreme poverty in "Can't Close My Eyes to It."

Whether she's revealing life lessons, pontificating about aging, recalling her sources of inspiration, or laying bare the beginnings of her life as a writer, McMillan approaches every piece with enduring candor, wit, and fearlessness.

Devoted fans and new readers alike will be delighted to discover these treasures spanning McMillan's long, groundbreaking career. Indeed, it wasn't only what Terry McMillan has said that made her so beloved . . . it was the way she said it.

Review Quotes

Praise for It's Not All Downhill From Here

"A wise and wisecracking novel of aging, heartbreak, and the quest to 'pump up the volume' in late midlife."--O: The Oprah Magazine

"[A] baldly honest, laugh-out-loud story."--Good Housekeeping

"A hopeful and hilarious novel."--Travel & Leisure

"I couldn't put this book down."--BuzzFeed

"This is a story of the power of women and the inspiring lives they lead."--She Reads

"McMillan proves once again that she is a skilled master."--Associated Press

"Lively, perceptive . . . Terry McMillan writes with a staggering depth of feeling, credibly capturing the characters' emotions as she unpacks their interpersonal conflicts. This delightful novel balances inspiration for renewal with the hard facts of aging."--Publishers Weekly, starred review

Praise for I Almost Forgot About You

"The novel is so immensely companionable, and Georgia is as alive, complex, inquiring, motivated and sexy as any twenty-five-year-old. Maybe more so."--The New York Times Book Review

"Self-discovery, second chances and the importance of family are thematic hallmarks of McMillan's novels. . . . I Almost Forgot About You checks all the boxes."--The Washington Post

"McMillan is funny and frank about men, women, and sex. Her summaries of Georgia's marriages and major love connections . . . are powerful and poetic."--USA Today

"Reading a Terry McMillan book feels like catching up with an old friend. . . . I Almost Forgot About You is a book that is important for readers of every age."--Ebony

About the Author

Terry McMillan is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of It's Not All Downhill From Here, I Almost Forgot About You, Waiting to Exhale, How Stella Got Her Groove Back, and other novels, and the editor of Breaking Ice: An Anthology of Contemporary African-American Fiction. Four of her novels have been made into movies: Waiting to Exhale, How Stella Got Her Groove Back, Disappearing Acts, and A Day Late and a Dollar Short. She lives in California.