I loved this one! Trent Preszler takes you on a wonderful journey through his life. He tells his story beautifully and I was completely sucked in. I finished this in less than 24 hours, because I couldn't put it down. I loved the woodworking elements and I also really loved how there's little themes throughout that continue to pop up.

Little and Often // by Trent Preszler

Little and Often sounded like a book I should enjoy a ton based on my reading tastes but I'm sad to say that I really struggled through a big part of the book. While I generally enjoy flashbacks that explain a person's history and personality, especially when they connect to their present life, hopes and dreams, I really had a hard time staying focused on this book. The narration just fell a little flat for me for the majority of the book. Towards the end though, I did feel a whole lot more invested and enjoyed the relationship between him and his mom, the trials and tribulations of boat making, and the reflections on his relationship with his dad that I had previously struggled with. It just took me a little bit to get there. I'm sorry I don't have a more descriptive, tangible reasoning but the connection just wasn't there for me personally.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for providing me with a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

I love this genre! So I jumped at the chance to read what is considered a book of the year. Did "Little and Often" move me? Yes! Was it well-written? Yes! Will it stay with me? No. And would I recommend it to a friend? Maybe...

With all of the amazing reviews, I think I had too high of expectations for this one. I enjoyed the introspection on Trent's relationship with his father, but I could have done with less of the boat-building. I do think the title was well played. Great advice.

Thanks to William Morrow for the opportunity to review this book via the NetGalley app.

An exploration of the father-son bond and relationship is the background for Trent Preszler’s “Little and Often: A Memoir” (2021). Preszler’s father was a decorated Vietnam veteran that owned and operated a cattle ranch on the bleak rugged plains of South Dakota. Perhaps he had hoped his only son would inherit the ranch, only to discover this would not be his son’s life plan. Profound sadness and disappointment followed as both men silently struggled to connect with and understand one another.

As a gay youth, Preszler realized he was different from other boys, and was especially unable to meet the rigorous demands of tough often harsh masculinity expected by his father to operate the ranch. The needs of his adored developmentally disabled sister Lucy added additional strain on their family life. Preszler’s accounts of ranch and cattle work, Faith Livestock cattle auctions, etc. were really interesting, as were his descriptions of living an entirely different life in New York.

In his professional life far from South Dakota, as a CEO and founding member of a popular New York winery, Preszler resided in an elegant beach house off the shore of Peconic Bay with is beloved dog Caper. After his father’s death, he turned his living room into “Preszler’s Workshop” and used his inheritated father’s tools to plan, craft, and build a canoe after discarding the irritating commercially made plastic Kayak left behind by his ex after their marriage ended.
Preszler observed: “I didn’t need to feel self-conscious ever if the canoe was a sea monster the size and shape of my grief. The canoe, like me, was flawed and temperamental.”
There was a lot of symbolism in this emotionally moving storyline. As Preszler worked with his hands, he gained the ability and knowledge to reach deeply within himself and feel the loving impact of his father’s legacy and the world around him. **With thanks to William Morrow and Custom House via NetGalley for the DDC for the purpose of review.

A version of this review previously appeared in Shelf Awareness and is republished here with permission.

Trent Preszler, born and raised on a farm, longed to live in New York since watching The Muppets Take Manhattan in a 1986 Faith, S.Dak., theater. He made the dream a reality: he earned two degrees at Cornell and, then, as CEO of Bedell Cellars, created the merlot served at Barack Obama's inauguration. Yet his successes were haunted by his estranged father Leon's words, "You ain't never gonna be man enough." In Preszler's superb memoir, Little and Often, the improbable happens--the non-craftsman builds a canoe from scratch and makes peace with his demons.

Disowned 14 years earlier, Preszler is stunned when his dad has nice words for him during a rare trip home. Leon dies shortly thereafter, oddly leaving Trent his toolbox. Recalling a fond memory of a time in a fishing boat, Preszler somewhat inadvisably decides to build a strip canoe, following directions from a decades-old paperback he discovers at the lumberyard.

The build begins about as well as expected as Preszler, whose friends think macramé might be more appropriate, rushes in and learns on the fly. But using his father's tools and discovering more about the churchgoing Vietnam veteran and championship rodeo rider helps Preszler understand his life's traumas. Readers learn along with Preszler as he works; he thoughtfully doles out historical details over the course of the boat's construction, as he reveals the family's background. Insightful and humorous, Preszler's memoir is a deep dive to find the father he longed for and the confidence to be his own man.

Little and Often is an honest memoir that is as simple and simultaneously as complex as life. Due out 27th April 2021 from William Morrow/Harper Collins on their Custom House imprint, it's 304 pages and will be available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.

This is a deeply moving and personal memoir about family, grief, loss, honesty, and growth. The author has a clear and engaging voice and writes openly about difficult and painful periods in his own life. I found myself drawn into his story and I experienced some of the same with my own not-always-easy relationship with my own father.

The author uses an interwoven flashback type narrative to retell stories from his past alongside relevant important moments from his father's passing and his own adulthood and careers (he's also a vintner whose merlot was served at Barack Obama's 2013 inaugural luncheon; he picked up a doctorate along the way and has led an otherwise remarkable life).

Beautifully written and moving. I enjoyed it a lot. I recommend it to readers of memoir and personal stories. The author is erudite and fascinating. Five stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

I don’t normally read memoirs but I enjoyed this one. I decided to read it because the author is a fellow Cornellian. It provides an interesting contrast between the author’s life growing up in a ranch in South Dakota and his current life as a winery manager in New York. The story lays out the complex family dynamics and tragedies in layers so it gets more intricate as new information is revealed.

This wasn't for me. It started off with some interest, some heart and soul, but about the time he decided to build a canoe, I'd already been skimming a bit, but I had no inclination to finish it.

Little and Often
A Memoir
by Trent Preszler
William Morrow and Custom House
You Are Auto-Approved
William Morrow
Biographies & Memoirs | Crafts & Hobbies | Nonfiction (Adult)
Pub Date 27 Apr 2021 | Archive Date 22 Jun 2021

Wow! Working through grief and repairing relationships is such a difficult process. I found this book to be helpful in my life for working through grief/loss.
Good book!
Thanks to William Morror and Custom House as well as NetGalley for the ARC.
4star

Little and often was the way I read Trent Preszler’s memoir of the same name, an account of how, after his father’s death, Preszler built a canoe with his inheritance—his father’s tools. Reading a few pages each night for a month, I journeyed with Preszler into grief mitigated by the power of memory, loss transformed by the mastery of craft, and a relationship healed after death. The beautifully worded narrative moves seamlessly through time, weaving Preszler’s childhood on a ranch in the Dakotas with his adult life as a New York winemaker living on Long Island. As he recounts his experiences during the course of building the canoe, Preszler’s introspection reveals unexpected connections between these two radically different experiences, shifting his perception of events and self, and enriching his understanding of family relationships, especially his relationship with his father. A rich and satisfying read.