PositiveThe Chicago Review of BooksLike Maggie Nelson’s The Argonauts portrays a body’s transformation with a wild mix of research and anecdote, or Deborah Levy’s memoir about middle-age rebirth, The Cost of Living, Steinke’s Flash Count Diary is composed of short, discreet paragraphs separated by white space. Perhaps due to the disjointed thought patterns of the menopausal writer or as a balm for the reader with disjointed thoughts. Either way, it gives the short paragraphs more power. When she travels to a European conference on menopause, it takes few words to depict the foolishness of panel after panel of men preaching the sanctity of hormone replacement and laser or surgical vaginal rejuvenation ... I didn’t want to finish this book, to lose [Steinke\'s] voice telling me my body is nothing to be ashamed of, and, yes, my sense of injustice is sharper.
