Chatterbox: Stories from a Noisy Life

$22.50
Chatterbox: Stories from a Noisy Life is a lively, heartfelt collection of forty-three mini-memoirs from Barbara Worton—an undeniable talker from birth. Growing up in a boisterous Italian-German-Dutch family on Long Island, she absorbed every story, every conversation, and every chaotic, beautiful detail of life. With wit and warmth, Worton invites readers into her world, from childhood memories of her grandmother’s kitchen (where making pasta sauce was a “military maneuver”) to the sleepless nights of adulthood. Her stories weave through supermarket lines, John Travolta, the Tappan Zee Bridge, and the quirks of everyday life, offering a nostalgic and relatable glimpse into the past and present. Told in her signature chatty style, Chatterbox is a joyful reflection on family, food, and the moments that shape us—best enjoyed with a plate of spaghetti and a side of nostalgia.
Chatterbox: Stories from a Noisy Life is a lively, heartfelt collection of forty-three mini-memoirs from Barbara Worton—an undeniable talker from birth. Growing up in a boisterous Italian-German-Dutch family on Long Island, she absorbed every story, every conversation, and every chaotic, beautiful detail of life. With wit and warmth, Worton invites readers into her world, from childhood memories of her grandmother’s kitchen (where making pasta sauce was a “military maneuver”) to the sleepless nights of adulthood. Her stories weave through supermarket lines, John Travolta, the Tappan Zee Bridge, and the quirks of everyday life, offering a nostalgic and relatable glimpse into the past and present. Told in her signature chatty style, Chatterbox is a joyful reflection on family, food, and the moments that shape us—best enjoyed with a plate of spaghetti and a side of nostalgia.

  • Paperback, 6x8.9, 12.8oz, 120 pages

  • "The stories… in Barbara Worton’s delightful, far-ranging collection are the outpouring of a writer who has been 'watching, cataloging, and analyzing' her whole life… You’ll wish this chatterbox would never shut up." - Paul Genega, author of Outtakes: New and Selected Poems

    "Chatterbox is a deeply moving memoir with its share of humor and vividly colorful figures–a book I couldn't put down and will return to again and again." - Paul Rabinowitz, Founder ARTS By The People, author truth, love and the lines in between and Grand Street, Revisited

    "This is a volume of recollections and musings that invite the heart and head to wonder, remember, and hope." - Kathy Curto, author Not for Nothing: Glimpses into a Jersey Girlhood

    “Barbara Worton's Chatterbox shines a klieg light on our common history, our shared insecurities, our universal regrets, our well-earned rage, and the humor that it takes to survive it all." - Linda Dini Jenkins, author Becoming Italian: Chapter and Verse from an Italian American Girl and Up at The Villa: Travels with My Husband

    "Barbara Worton's collection of interconnected narratives… tell the tale of a formative time in the author’s life… '… walls were quilted together from wood salvaged from a patchwork of boards from vegetable and fruit crates still bearing the Andy Boy and California Oranges stickers.'" - Maria Lisella, author Thieves in the Family

    About the Author
    Barbara Worton is an author, poet, playwright, blogger, and songwriter. Her books include Bedtime Stories: The Short, Long and Tall Tales of a Sleepwriter and the award-winning children’s book Too Tall Alice. She coauthored the choreo-poem If I’m Talking, Why Aren’t You Listening? with Linda Dini Jenkins and the web memoir and blog The Adventures of The Baker’s Daughter with Rochelle Udell. Barbara’s story “London Calling” appears in Memories of John Lennon, edited by Yoko Ono. Her writing has also appeared in literary journals and women’s service and business publications, including The Haight-Ashbury Literary Journal, Ovunque Siamo, The Paterson Literary Review, VIA: Voices in Italian Americana, and Platform Review. Her writing and publishing career includes editing and ghostwriting for publishers in the US and UK, working as an advertising copywriter and as a writer for some of the world’s largest household-name organizations. She was an Associate Producer on the independent film Surviving on LES, which won the Chelsea Film Festival Audience Feature Film Award and the Bowery Film Festival’s Feature Film Award. Barbara is a member of the Italian American Writers Association, writes songs as a member of Laverne + Ralph, and lives with her husband Geoff in New Jersey. For more information, visit www.barbaraworton.com