WILD RIDE: Earthquakes, Sneezes and Other Thrills...

WILD RIDE: Earthquakes, Sneezes and Other Thrills by Bia Lowe (HarperPerennial: $11.; 179 pp.). Lowe leapfrogs from subject to subject in these personal essays, juxtaposing allergies and lesbianism, asthma and alcoholism. She sets the tone for this collection in an account of her 25th high school reunion: “All of us these days are on the road to somewhere, neither where we came from nor quite where we’re going, barely able to stay awake. It seems I’ve spent my life hoping to free experience from the past . . . to allow the future to hit me like a blast of fresh air.” Lowe describes her hopes in terms that cut across age and gender.