Book overview
From a celebrated Native journalist, an electrifying memoir of travel, love, friendships, and connection across cultures.
"Best memoir of the summer." --Piper Kerman, author of Orange Is the New Black
"An origin story of a mighty, independent Indigenous woman finding her power in a broader, borderless world." --Chris La Tray (Anishinaabe), author of Becoming Little Shell
Growing up on the Torres Martinez Reservation in Southern California, Terria Smith longed for adventure. She became a journalist, hitting the road and reporting on the rich lives of Native people around the United States. As her hunger for travel grew, so did her understanding of community, and what it means to be a world citizen today. I Love You So Many--named after a favorite expression of her Spanish-speaking relatives--follows Smith from her ancestral homelands to Cuba, Iceland, Guyana, and back again. With exuberant, laugh-out-loud style she tells stories about forging profound friendships, falling in and out of love, and celebrating the determination that carried her through hard and heady times alike. She brings a fresh sensibility to travel writing, building enduring relationships with the people and cultures she visits. For Smith, travel is deeply rooted in Native traditions: It's about sharing, reciprocity, risk-taking, and the valuable (and sometimes awkward) work of bridging and holding differences. As fun as it is poignant, I Love You So Many is an irresistible tribute to getting out and living a life in full.
