An Abbreviated Life: A Memoir

An Abbreviated Life: A Memoir

by Ariel Leve

4.2 (942)

4.2 stars from 942 reviews. Top 91% of Memoir books we track.

169 pages~2.8 hr readPublished by HarperPublished 2016-06-14

$3.99KU71% off peak

Last checked: Apr 26, 2026

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Price history: $1.99 $13.99

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Fans of these authors will like this...

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Fans of these books will like this...

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Perfect for you if...

  • You've experienced emotional neglect or conditional love and recognise yourself in stories of survival and coping mechanisms.
  • You're interested in how childhood trauma shapes adult relationships and the long work of untangling it.
  • You value memoirs that are honest about family dysfunction without veering into self-pity.

Maybe not for you if...

  • You're looking for a redemption arc with a neatly tied bow. Leve's recovery is messy and ongoing.
  • You prefer longer narratives that build slowly. This is spare and concentrated, which some find too brief.
  • You want a tell-all about famous people or scandalous family secrets. This is intimate and introspective, not sensational.

About this book

Ariel Leve grew up in Manhattan with an eccentric mother described as a poet, artist, self-appointed troublemaker, and attention seeker. As a child, Leve learned to parent herself, managing both her own needs and her mother's. Her upbringing was marked by unpredictable rages, denial, disavowed responsibility, and sudden displays of affection—a cycle that left her uncertain how to feel safe in a world of conditional love. Leve examines the chaos and long-term effects of her childhood under these conditions, and how the coping mechanisms she developed to survive later became obstacles in adulthood. While she had material comforts, emotional safety was absent except during summer visits to her father's home in South East Asia—visits that ended after he attempted to gain custody. Following the death of a caring caretaker, a series of replacements raised her, each relationship bringing intense attachment and loss. Only after moving to the other side of the world decades later could she begin to free herself from her past. Through her story, Leve explores the effects of chronic psychological maltreatment on a child's developing brain and seeks to understand how to build a life she never thought possible.

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Price History

Kindle price over time. Green zones = periods when the book was free.

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Free$7.00$13.99Apr '20Mar '23Jan '25Apr '26
$1.99$13.99

Currently on sale at $3.99 — 71% off peak. Price has dropped 20 times over the last 6 years. Goes on sale roughly every 37 days. Typically stays discounted for 38 days.

Sales Rank

Amazon sales rank: lower number = better selling book. #1 is the bestseller.

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#15,685#535,169#1,054,653May '18Apr '23Aug '25Apr '26

Currently around #117K in the Kindle store — a niche title. Climbing the charts — 70% improvement recently.

Rating & Reviews

Purple line = star rating over time. Blue area = total review count growth.

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3.5★4.3★5.0★Aug '23Dec '24Feb '26Apr '26RatingReviews

Currently 4.2★ from 942 reviews

Gaining approximately 6 new reviews per month. Rating has remained stable at 4.2 over the tracking period.

Sale Prediction

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Free$7.00$13.99Apr '20Mar '23Jan '25Apr '26PredictedApr '26

Actual Predicted

This book is currently discounted at $3.99. It typically returns to around $13.99.

Prices shown in USD from Amazon US. We continuously pull new data to improve tracking. If dates look old, it usually means there has been no significant change since the last data point.

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Ariel Leve

1 book on Vagrant Press

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