TOW #1 - "A Drugstore in Winter"

This essay is taken from The Best American Essays of the Century and is written by Cynthia Ozick.


In this brilliantly written essay, Cynthia Ozick recalls memories of how she became a lover of reading. Her parents owned a pharmacy in New York during the Great Depression, and constantly struggled. People were sleeping in boxcars, there were children begging for food, and jobs were so scarce that many families were hungry. Ozick witnessed all of these events happening at a very young age, yet at the time, she had no idea what was happening. She was so engrossed in free books that were loaned to her from neighbors and friends, that Cynthia was completely shut out from what everyone else was experiencing.  Ozick has a very unique diction that helps to make a long and sad story incredibly intriguing. When describing the editor for the Boston Globe, she writes that the man had a "closed parenthesis mouth." This imagery allows the reader to connect to what she is saying because they are able to picture in their mind what this man could have possibly looked like. Ozick includes little jokes about historical events that prove how knowledgeable and aware she is as a learner. These allusions help to make the reader think a little more, even though it is a simple-to-read-and-understand memoir. She never directly states her purpose, but I think she meant to express the importance of reading and writing and ultimately that you can create good out of even the worst situations. Ozick, without a doubt, achieved her purpose. Through her anecdotes, it is easy to tell that reading books was able to distract her from the horrors that she could have faced outside her family's pharmacy. All of this reading led her to start writing essays for journals, and pursue a career in literature. She was able to connect with the people that let her take books for free, and use the library as a useful tool later in life. Her personal narratives expressed her thoughts on the responsibility that reading had in her life, and how it could be helpful to others as well.