About the House
By Jenny Slate ’00
Jenny Slate, acclaimed comedienne and actress, joined her writer-poet father Ron Slate to create About the House—a collection of essays revolving around their family home in the Town of Milton. The rooms and corners of a rambling Colonial built in 1898, and purchased by the Slates in 1980, set the stage for Ron and Jenny, in alternating chapters, to share memories attached to the spaces, weaving an intimate and compelling family memoir.
Jenny and Ron chose Concord Free Press as their publisher, an enterprise founded by Stona and Ann Fitch. The press prints 3,000 copies of each book and gives them away, requesting that readers donate to a charity or individual in need. (Contributions are listed on the CFP site.) Free Press readers are expected to pass the books along to others. The first ten books published by Concord Free Press inspired donations of more than $1 million.
One reviewer describes About the House as “memories, quirks, and confessions in a singular collection of stories, essays, and poems that range from profound to profane. Remarkably touching, often hilarious, and unfailingly human, this unusual father-daughter dialogue takes a look at family like no other work has.”