Praise for Origins of the Universe and What it All Means
“Strangely dazzling memoir” —The New York Times
“Firstman’s characterization of family dynamics is pitch-perfect. This is a very endearing book…for the curious mind.”—The Paris Review
“This formally innovative memoir investigates both the origins of the father-daughter dynamic and the evolution of life on earth.” —Poets & Writers Magazine 
“An important memoir about family [that] sheds light on unseen family life. [Firstman] explores parent-child relationships, evolution and life as we know it.” —BuzzFeed
“A saddening but ultimately redeeming memoir.” —Kirkuk Reviews
“With grace and elegance and wildness and terror…[Firstman] emerges with…a glimmer of insight, or at least acceptance, into why we do the things we do.” —Nick Flynn, author of Another Bullshit Night in Suck City
“A well-earned…compelling narrative [of] rare quality.” —River Teeth Journal
“A unique debut that easily stands out among memoirs because it is as much about considering the world around us as it is about one very interesting father-daughter relationship.” —Booklist
“Firstman offers an interesting and engaging way to consider life—hers and your own—and what it all means.” —Chicago Review of Books
“Origins of the Universe and What it all Means stands in subtle yet brilliant contrast to [an] overly simplistic worldview, taking its readers to a place where they must consider the full extent of what it means to be human.” —Venegas Review
“Much more than a simple remembering, the book includes travel narrative, cultural commentary, insight into parent-child relationships, and even the evolution of life on earth.” —Lifestyle Magazine
“Origins of the Universe and What it all Means is a meditation on difficult familial relationships and expands outward with greater philosophical questions.”
—Green Mountains Review
“We spend our whole existence trying to connect the emotional with the intellectual—to reconcile the facts about our parents with our experience of them as people. …It’s an endeavor…worth the energy, especially if you attempt it as entrtainingly as Firstman does here.”—Vulpes Libris
“Firstman’s self-questioning narrative…handles a conundrum of attachment and detachment with sensitivity and rigor… through the lens of scientific expertise.”—Shelf Awareness
“Carole Firstman’s stunning debut memoir…sings with a voice that is as wild and strong as it is smart.” —Steven Church, author of One with the Tiger: On Savagery and Intimacy
“Firstman tells the story of her remarkable childhood [with]…clear-eyed and sympathetic writing [that] transcends science to engage the elusive complexity of truth, the means and ends of human experience.” —John Hales, author of Shooting Polaris: A Personal Survey in the American West
“It’s called… Origins of the Universe and What It All Means. What a title, right? Wait til you see the opening page.” —Book Beginnings, Rose City Reader
Available everywhere book are sold, including:
To purchase a signed copy.
Carole Firstman 