Curiously, inventively, Beth Kephart reflects on the iterative, composite self in her new memoir--traveling to lakes and rivers, New Mexico and Mexico, the icy waters of Alaska and a hot-air balloon launch in search of understanding. She is accompanied, often, by her Salvadoran-artist husband. She spends time, a lot of time, with her widowed father. As she looks at them she ponders herself and comes to terms with the person she is still becoming. At once sweeping and intimate, Wife Daughter Self is a memoir built of interlocking essays by an acclaimed author, teacher, and critic.