THIS IS A BORZOI BOOK
PUBLISHED BY ALFRED A. KNOPF
Copyright © 2015 by Tracy K. Smith
All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House LLC, New York, and in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto, Penguin Random House companies.
Knopf, Borzoi Books, and the colophon are registered trademarks of Random House LLC.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Smith, Tracy K.
Ordinary light : a memoir / Tracy K. Smith. — First edition.
pages cm
“This is a Borzoi book”—Title page verso.
ISBN 978-0-307-96266-9 (hardback) — ISBN 978-0-307-96267-6 (eBook)
1. Smith, Tracy K. 2. Smith, Tracy K.—Family. 3. African American women authors—Biography. 4. Mothers—United States—Death. 5. Mothers and daughters—United States. 6. Coming of age—United States. 7. Home—Psychological aspects. 8. African Americans—Race identity. 9. Identity (Psychology)—United States. 10. Poets—Psychology. I. Title.
PS3619.M5955Z46 2015
818′.603—dc23
[B]
2014026185
eBook ISBN 9780307962676
Cover photograph by Bernard Chevalier
Cover design by Janet Hansen
v4.1_r1
a