Circle Way

1. Literary significance. Highlighting the life and work of former San Francisco Chronicle book editor Bill Hogan, Circle Way is peppered with personal anecdotes about—and letters from—legendary writers like John Steinbeck, James Baldwin, Kurt Vonnegut, Alex Haley, and Jack Kerouac.
2. Historic value. Circle Way touches on seminal aspects of California history, including the 19^th century logging and lumber boom, Al Jolson’s (a good friend to the author’s great uncle) rise to fame in Oakland during the Jazz Age, and the literary renaissance of the American West in the 1950s.
3. Poetic and poignant. An ode to an extraordinary California family, Circle Way is a loving portrait written in a poetic, expressionistic style.
4. A visual literary feast. Richly illustrated with evocative drawings, historical photos, gripping newspaper headlines, and letters from literary luminaries, Circle Way provides a visually engaging and immersive experience for the reader.

“"A delicate, searching memoir.... Tender and lyrical, Circle Way is a multilayered story of family and fate that focuses on a father-daughter pair of writers." --Foreword Reviews "A spectacular story of an immensely fascinating family.... Not a memoir about death or grief, Circle Way is about life and living." --"Bookin' with Sunny," Concord Clayton Pioneer”

“This deeply felt, lyrical family story... is of triumph and loss, hurricanes and homecomings.... [Circle Way] is a collaboration, an endeavor to discover and hold the swirl of love and influence of family.”

—San Francisco Chronicle Datebook

“[A] visually rich, lyrical book... a moving exploration of literature, family and history.”

—San Francisco Chronicle

“A delicate, searching memoir.... Tender and lyrical, Circle Way is a multilayered story of family and fate that focuses on a father-daughter pair of writers.”

—Foreword Reviews

“A spectacular story of an immensely fascinating family.... Not a memoir about death or grief, Circle Way is about life and living.”

—“Bookin' with Sunny,” Concord Clayton Pioneer

“History, poetry, art, and family come together in Mary Ann Hogan’s loving exploration of her journalist father’s life. Her quest to understand this gifted and complicated man is a delight to read, leaving us with a rich portrait of not one, but two consequential lives.”

—Judy Woodruff, anchor and managing editor, PBS NewsHour

“One can’t help comparing Mary Ann Hogan to Joan Didion. The prose is subtle; the insights, piercing. Circle Way … speaks eloquently to what goes unsaid in any family.”

—Susan Stern, director, Bad Attitude: The Art of Spain Rodriguez

“A love letter not only to the author’s literary father, but also to the vanished lives and sensibilities of an earlier California … it’s a bittersweet pleasure to share her journey.”

—Sarah Pollock, writer and editor

“Circle Way is a gorgeous and refreshing exploration of writing and family. Hogan’s masterfully woven memoir offers new ways to consider the stories of our lives—what appear to be gaps in knowledge are ultimately paths to understanding.”

—Kate Schmitt, author of Singing Bones

“Never before have so many judges ‘oohed’ and ‘aahhed’ over the clever design conceit of this book…. The printing, the quality of the paper, subtle design choices, and the beauty of the overall package—all added up to exceptional.” 

—PubWest Book Design Awards

The late Mary Ann Hogan was an award-winning journalist and teacher whose credits included The New York Times, The Washington Post, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Oakland Tribune, and Mother Jones magazine. She specialized in personal essays, and for six years was syndicated by the Los Angeles Times. She lectured nationally on writing through the American Press Institute and the Poynter Institute for Media Studies. She taught writing at San Francisco State University, Palm Beach State College, and Florida Atlantic University, where she earned a Master of Fine Arts in creative nonfiction. Returning to her childhood home in Mill Valley before she died in 2019 of lymphoma, she wrote a community column for the Marin Independent Journal.

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