Though some of the lessons learned in this memorable story are painful, Levy ultimately finds redemption in her ability to glimpse the light beyond the darkness, and to gain a deepening gratitude for friends, family, and her profession. The Rules Do Not Apply: A Memoir Hardcover Deckle Edge, Maby Ariel Levy (Author) 5,019 ratings Editors' pick Best Biographies & Memoirs See all formats and editions Kindle 10.99 Read with Our Free App Audiobook 0.00 Free with your Audible trial Hardcover 21.48 122 Used from 1.19 16 New from 4.26 6 Collectible from 12. Her awakening to the fact that life doesn’t always cooperate with one’s plan is raw and compelling. Levy took a writerly approach to the narrative of her own life, believing that her personal story would unfold as if she had penned it. Consider the width of the chasm between us and the original audience. Try to come to grips with how the original audience would have understood the text. Ten years later she got pregnant with the help of a sperm donor and then suffered a miscarriage while on assignment in Mongolia. To understand fully, start small and extend outward: verse, passage, chapter, book, author and testament/covenant. Though Levy longed for motherhood and a comfortable life, she also had a “compulsion” for adventure. At 28, she fell in love with and married a 41-year-old woman with substance abuse problems. As a successful young writer in the 1990s (first for New York magazine), Levy traveled widely, writing primarily on the topic of sexuality and gender. Her mother encouraged her to make her own rules, with one caveat: never become dependent upon a man. As a child in Larchmont, N.Y., Levy was taught that she could achieve anything she wanted. In this dark and absorbing memoir, Levy ( Female Chauvinist Pigs), a staff writer for the New Yorker, recounts her complicated life and, with stunning clarity, reveals that the best laid plans can be sidetracked.

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