goals that seem out of the box. This is Not the Ivy League is a part of the American Lives Series edited by Tobias Wolff. I strongly recommend it. This is an amazing work, rendered in the most lovely language that seems to dance across the page like little ice shards. In this little book, she covers not only her struggle to become and remain an an academic under the most trying circumstances (often with the most unusual people), but she gives a wonderful, personal history of life in the West. You will meet her family who lived the hardscrabble ranch life, as she also did in her youth, you will be treated to the raw beauty of the West, and you will encounter a person who did her best to be who she was, no matter what. I can't recommend this book enough. Buy it, read it, review it, pass it on to your friends. Just in case you are wondering, I have never met Mary Clearman Blew; I was just lucky enough that my husband bought me the book. As is noted in the acknowlegements, almost every chapter in this book recounting the author's childhood and academic career first appeared in a literary journal, book or magazine. Its history as a work of literature is more than evident, and at times impeded my ability to enjoy the narrative. I find it hard to enjoy books whose sentences scream "Look at me!" The first chapter, one that details her