Reading · Only The Jodi: Life as a Sober, Aging, Dementia Caregiver

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I take two minutes out of my day to tell you everything about a book—based solely on the cover art, cover lines, and title. Why? Because I can resist anything1 but a good-looking book cover.

Short Attention Span Reader presents

Body: My Life in Parts by Nina Lichtenstein

TL;DR: Body: My Life in Parts is the memoir of an ex-pat Norwegian Lutheran turned American Viking Jewess trying to answer one question: “How the hell did I end up here?”

Nina focuses on remembrances grounded in the physical body. Our bodies can be a source of discovery, and recovery of meaning, witness and recordkeeper. One body part at a time, she explores the way bodies are a most dependable collaborator in “keeping the score” and in living a more examined life.

Jodi: Hi, this is Jodi Sh Doff, and welcome to Short Attention Span Reader, where you can so judge a book by its cover. Just watch. This week’s book is Body: My Life in Parts by Nina B. Lichtenstein.

Nina: I used to be Lichtenstēn, then I got diworced, and I claimed Lichtenstīn.

Jodi: This is a book called Body: My Life in Parts by the divorced Nina B. Lichtenstein. Nina will sit quietly while I tell you what this book is about. I have not read it because that’s how we do things.

This is the CliffNotes version of CliffNotes.

Okay, it says BODY, and it’s obviously about a woman’s body, but it has no skin. No skin. There’s no skin on this body. It’s a little disconcerting. At first I thought maybe she was just sunburned, but do y’all remember Ed Gein? Gēn, Gīn, maybe he got divorced, too.

He’s the one that “Psycho” was based on. He took all these women, and he took their skin off, and he made suits for himself. Lady suits.

This might be a survivor who lost all her skin, and then she’s talking about it.

This may be about, you know when the Botox and the lifts, they get their face resurfaced…

Nina: Peeling or something?

Jodi: Peeled, yeah. Don’t talk. This is not your time to talk…but thank you.

It is possible that this person had an entire body chemical peel. I’m gonna introduce you to Nina B. Lichtenstein. I got it right. She will tell us what she thinks this book is about.

(You and I know it’s either about Ed Gein, or it is about someone who’s really, really vain).

Or a really bad sunburn! This could be Montauk with no sunblock. What is it about? Tell me what this book is about.

Nina: Hey, Jodi, thanks for having me on. Part of the book is actually about my sunburn, because with my fair Scandinavian skin, I’m gonna-

Jodi: I’m so smart. Go ahead

Nina: You’re so smart. Yep ... it’s a memoir. Okay. And each chapter is named for a body part.

Jodi: Your body parts?

Nina: Well, they are my body parts — I use body parts as a portal toward memory and story. Actually a memoir in essays. You can open it up anywhere and read individual separate essays.

Jodi: So, much like Frankenstein’s monster, we can put the body together in any way we’d like.

Nina: Yes. Yes. And then I was curious about how our bodies carry our stories and our memories. Stories that make up who I’ve become today. Gen X-er, latchkey kid, resourceful and survivor-esque. Life happens, right? So some humor, some more emotional pieces, childhood till old age.

Actually, listen, I just turned 60.

Jodi: You’re a baby. A baby.

Nina: And in the back of the book are writing or discussion prompts. I’ve had people say that they’ve used them as a catalyst to have correspondences with people, friends on email.

Jodi: I would never have guessed that from the cover. One suggestion I have is, you might wanna put a pronunciation guide over here. Explain the difference to people between the Lichtenstēn & Lichtenstīn.

Nina: And guess what? It’s pa- it’s part of a next project.

Jodi: Ah, there’s a next project. Where can you buy this book?

Nina: You can... It’s Vine Leaves Press. There’s also, of course, bookshop.org, which I always try to encourage people to buy it. Of course, the big beast, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble. You can come to Maine and buy a copy from me personally.

Jodi: Anything else you wanna add that I’ll probably edit out, Nina B? I’m just gonna leave it at that because I can’t mispronounce B. Nina B., it has been a delight having you and your skin. I will read all about your body in the next couple of weeks.

Nina: Okay, you’re gonna, you’re gonna, you’re gonna edit this out anyway. Yeah. But maybe you won’t. So I came to my yoga class, and Len, who is in his late 70s, jumped up from his mat.

“Nina, I finished your book. I feel I know your body so well.” And I’m like, “Okay, good, good, good.”

Jodi: Nina Lichtenstēn. Stīn. One of those is right. Body: My Life in Parts. You’ll see where you can get it. There’ll be a QR code so you can buy it. Stick around. Thanks.

***

How do I stop recording? I hit here.

January 2, 2026: Editor on Board with Jennifer Silva Redmond- Memoir Structure, How Books are Told.
”Body takes its structure from a list of eighteen body parts …and tells the author’s life story in vignettes…in a way that makes it universal.”
November 2025: Book Review by Judy Bolton-Fasman for Hadassah Magazine
”In Nina Lichtenstein’s new memoir, Body: My Life in Parts, flesh and bones become an unusual gateway to contemplations of youth, middle age and menopause.”
August 21, 2025: Let’s Talk Memoir with Ronit Plank
”Nina B. Lichtenstein (in) conversation about writing to metabolize, using body parts as portals, pivoting from academic writing to memoir, discovering an authentic writer’s voice…
August 15, 2025 : Book Review by Kate Lewis for MER
”Navigating through explorations of a body allow author Nina B. Lichtenstein’s memoir, Body: My Life In Parts, to bring together the entirety of her life as she lived it: viscerally, with teeth, and belly, and breasts, and back – as well as how the breakdown of those parts can often bring us to our literal knees.”
August 11, 2025: Book Review by Amy Goldmacher for Hippocampus Magazine
”I adore the structure of this story in parts. Even though each body part is a discrete container, characters weave throughout.”
June 5, 2025: The Art and Craft of Body Writing by Jennifer Lang for Brevity
A Q & A with Nina B. Lichtenstein by Jennifer Lang
June 5, 2025: Book Review by Martha Engber
”I’ve never read a memoir with a more unique and organic structure than BODY: MY LIFE IN PARTS. The concept of the author grouping the memories of her life via body parts is just brilliant!
2025: Interview with Nina B Lichtenstein on Freelance Writing Direct with Estelle Erasmus
July 30, 2024 Interview with Nina B Lichtenstein, by Diane Gottlieb

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Caregiving generally falls to women—aging parents, special needs kids, incarcerated family members, and spouses. We’re the support through illness, life and death decisions, end of life options, and next chapter scenarios.

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Short Attention Span Reader: Nina Lichtenstein & Body: My Life in Parts