Once More We Saw Stars: A Memoir

The events that form the center of Jayson Greene’s memoir, Once More We Saw Stars, are hard to bear: Greene’s young daughter, Greta, is killed by a fallen brick in a tragic accident in New York City. In the memoir, Greene recounts the despair and eventual resilience that characterize the aftermath of such a tragedy, infusing the darkness with a slowly emerging humor and hope that makes the story, not just a heartbreaking recollection, but also a powerful demonstration of the complexity and beauty of human life.

Greene is skilled at conveying tender details and absurd ones. The details of Greta’s life—how she spent her mornings, what she liked to eat, what jokes she made, what she was like around her friends—form a loving portrait of her. Aside that portrait is the more raw depiction of what young, grieving parents find themselves facing: the realization you need to seek out people who have lost children young, the judgment of people whose ideas of grief contradict your own, the discovery of hope and meaning in places you might not have thought you would ever rely on. These depictions make for a story that is tender and honest, driven by a sense of love and grief that becomes deeper and more complex with each turn of the page.