5 comments about The Next Better Place: A Memoir in Miles.

1. I ENJOYED THIS BOOK VERY MUCH,HOWEVER I'M A LITTLE CONFUSED ABOUT MR. KEITH'S DATES. HE SAYS THESE EVENTS TOOK PLACE IN 1959, WHEN HE WAS 11 YEARS OLD. HOWEVER ON THE "AUTHORS NOTE" PAGE IT GIVES HIS YEAR OF BIRTH AS 1945, WHICH WOULD HAVE MADE HIM 14 YEARS OLD AT THE TIME OF THESE EVENTS. ALSO HE MENTIONS SEVERAL TIMES THE SONG FROM THE MOVIE "THE MAGNIFICANT 7". HOWEVER THAT MOVIE WASNT RELEASED TILL THE EARLY 1960'S. NO BIG DEAL. JUST BAD PROOF READING BY THE PUBLISHERS.



2. Smiling ghosts of Mark Twain and Jack Kerouac hover over many pages of Michael Keith's "The Next Better Place." This captivating book places Keith squarely in the same row with America's finest writers of the road adventure story. Which is to say that "The Next Better Place" is so much more than a memoir-cum-novel of a precocious son traversing America's great expanses with an ageing picaro of a father. Keith knows when to embroider his book's perfectly intoned dialogue, tremulous details, and charming teenage bravado with both lyrical pathos and hints at the perverse. The greatest American road novel, Vladimir Nabokov's "Lolita," also came to mind as I devoured Keith's book, and I can only hope that Keith will soon reward his readers with another one.



3. I would normally give this book 5 stars, except I have a strong sense that this book is a fictional fraud.
   
   It's the story of an 11 year old boy who hitchikes the country with his alcoholic, dead-beat father in search of a better life in California. Of course, California is no better than any other place they've been and they take buses back to Albany where his mother lives with his two sisters, only to ***spoiler*** go back out on the road again with his father at the end of the book.
   
   The book is well written and engaging, but only if the book is true, which I doubt. The book often states what a good storyteller the father is and how good said father is at making up things to get what he wants out of people. The author continually expresses his desire to be on the radio or in movies, not to mention how often he embellishes stories, so I wouldn't be surprised if the book was just one big lie.
   
   From the outset, the author states how he went 2 entire months without a bowel movement, which I don't even know is medically possible, much less didn't land him in the hospital. Plus he recounts in great detail names, places, and events that happened 40 years ago. And somehow, all these events involve sexual predators, thieves, and other ne'er-do-well's. Never any average people. Nah, I don't think the book is true.
   
   But if it is true, it's really well done.



4. This wonderful hitchhiking odyssey is all thumps up (or outstretched as the young boy would tell us). What a romp across 1960 America. It's the kind of book I'd love to see as a movie. Sure lends itself to the big screen because I have read few more visual stories. This is fun all the way to California and back! What a roll of the camera . . . and sentence.



5. This is a wonderful book. "A road trip with an alcoholic father and a child? Must be a downer," you'd think. Not so. Never sliding into self-pity, the author just lays out a personal cross-country saga in mesmerizing detail. At times heartbreaking, this book is ultimately an inspirational story of survival by a child who deserved better. I've read a lot of travel narratives, and this is as good as they come.

5 comments about Hooligan: A Mormon Boyhood.

1. I enjoy memoirs, so I wanted to like this book. The title was intriguing. "Hooligan" made me think of the McCourt lads, and some boys I knew in my childhood--the ones our parents used as Bad Examples, because they were always in some kind of minor trouble that pre-disposed them to entanglement in the bigger and more dangerous kinds. "A Mormon Boyhood" suggested I would learn things about growing up Mormon in Utah that would be different from growing up Methodist in Pennsylvania. Not only did the book fail to live up to its title, it failed almost completely as a memoir. Yes, it is full of recollections, in general terms, of boyhood in Provo, Utah, in the years just before World War II. But most of these recollections, far from being in any sense personal, enlightening or unique, could have come from the memory of my brother, whose boyhood was spent at the other end of the country, 3 decades later.
   
   Hooligan is not a story, in any sense, and it lacks a main character. This memoir's biggest failing, for me, is the total absence of the author as a person. I didn't know who Douglas Thayer was when I began reading, and I still had no idea who he was when I finished. I did know there was very little of the "hooligan" about him. Life events that must have been critical to the boy Doug, and that could have been moving or revealing to the reader are treated as asides; his parents' divorce, his father's death, the accidental shooting death of another boy, the coming of the war are mentioned, but in a detached and general manner that gives us no insight into their formative effect on the author.
   
   For a teacher of creative writing, Thayer has a rather monotonous style. His childhood is often reduced to laundry lists of activities, foods, and common mothering expressions without particular context. ("You'll put your eye out," was funny in A Christmas Story. Here, it's just another cliché in a basketful.)
   
   Only in rare passages does the child of this narrative come alive, and these few instances are remarkable. Thayer's description of riding his bicycle out of town to go fishing alone (in Chapter 10) made me catch my breath and wonder if I just hadn't been paying attention up to that point. Most of the book is written in the first person plural, as if the author were part of a collective, or in the second person, which distances him even further from his own life. When Thayer lapses (and it does feel like inadvertence) into using "I", there is a suggestion of potential brilliance in his writing, and I got the feeling he might be capable of conveying so much more. But in a little under 200 pages, I marked less than half a dozen paragraphs for their lasting impact. Here's one of them: "All summer in our trips down to the fields we'd watched for pheasants, especially after the hay and grain were cut and you could see the flocks along the edges of the fields in the early evening, maybe twelve or fifteen hens and three or four roosters. If the setting sun was just right and the rooster turned, his whole breast shone like fire. Riding our bikes down the lanes, we heard the rooster cackling, the sound sharp, sudden and thrilling." If only he'd given us more of that and less of this: "Pick-and-shovel work was considered the least skilled and hardest of manual labors, and you were warned that it was what you would end up doing for the rest of your natural life if you didn't get a good job, the rest of your natural life being somehow longer and worse than just your life. Working on the railroad as a section hand laying track was also considered quite limited...You were constantly told you needed to amount to something, but you were never told what..."
   
   When I read, I sometimes hear a voice in my head speaking the words. In this book, it was Andy Rooney's voice I heard. I realized that the style of Thayer's memoir reminded me of Mr. Rooney's style in the short pieces he does at the end of "60 Minutes", where it works quite well. Over the course of a full-length book, it wears very thin.
   
   A blurb on the back cover of Hooligan asserts that Mr. Thayer is "known in some circles as a Mormon Hemingway." Another touts him as "One of the finest writers the LDS Church has yet produced". I don't much like Hemingway, but I don't see the parallels, either. I can't dispute the latter claim, because I don't know of any other writers "produced" by the LDS church. In a genre that includes works by Annie Dillard, Bobbie Ann Mason, Rick Bragg, Russell Baker, Robert MacNeil, Pete Hamill, Joan Didion, Elie Wiesel (I, too, can make lists), Hooligan falls far from the standard of excellence. Read An American Childhood, or A Drinking Life. You'll learn something, you'll feel something. You'll wish you could meet the author. That's what reading a memoir should do for you.



2. This memoir is truly a boy's story. The narrator tells the story from a boy's point of view with vivid details and wonderful vignettes. From the first page, where he comments "We were to be seen and not heard.", the narrative is filled with moments that resonated for me even though my own boyhood was much different than the author's. I found the episodic style another aspect that made this like a boy's story for it seemed more natural that he would tell it in this, somewhat unorganized, manner. Nevertheless I looked forward to each chapter and the new events and information that it would bring. The characters and events seemed real even when we learn few details about them.
   
   The memoir provided sufficient detail to bring a different place and time alive. The accumulation of episodes and events led to a rich picture of another era when things were truly simpler. Again this rang true to me based on my own boyhood. The narrator includes changes in his life like the separation of his parents and his school experiences that provide an additional layer of meaning for the memoir. While there was a certain detachment of the narrator from all of this, the result for this reader was that the memoir took on a dreamlike quality that enhanced the feeling of difference in this particular place.
   
   Through its presentation as an episodic boy's story the overall effect was one that made me feel that I was a participant in this story. I was satisfied as the narrative ended that I had shared some part of this interesting boyhood.



3. Childhood is rich with feelings and with things; ideas come later. The "hooligan" of Doug Thayer's memoir has few ideas, most of them gleaned from adults and skewed because who can understand grown-ups anyway? ("Stark naked" is worse than "buck naked," but why?) The feelings and the everyday things are his own, however, and given to us with a richness and a clarity readers will treasure.
   
   It's all here--from the chores a boy must finish before he can burst out into the day, to the underwater wonder of swimming (buck naked) with the fish he can emulate if not yet catch. Comparisons to Twain's Tom Sawyer are inevitable and appropriate; in addition, I keep thinking of Thornton Wilder's Our Town and The Happy Journey--simple narratives that include "nothing less than everything": family life, food, work, nature, the stars, sickness and health, death and faith, sexuality, mystery, war--and all of it offered up in immediate, boy-sized images. (The hand-made slingshot, the ice pan beneath the ice box that required more tending than a young puppy, the indignities of the doctor's examination.)
   
   This book is a gem: months after reading it, you will remember some detail with such fondness and clarity you'll think it was a memory of your own. To make a work both universal and unique is the epitome of art, and with this book, Douglas Thayer has achieved just that.



4. 
   Hooligan: A Mormon Boyhood is the memoir of author Douglas Thayer, a.k.a. "Mormon Hemingway", who grew up in Utah Valley during the Great Depression and World War II. Brimming with nostalgia for an era when life was simpler, and boyhood was filled with mysteries, delights, and dreams, Hooligan is a cheerful tale of adventure and surprisingly ingenious pastimes. "The best material for a hand grenade was the dust from a vacuum cleaner, wrapped in toilet paper and tied with a string. The idea was to hit the enemy on the head so the hand grenade exploded and blinded him temporarily. This was hard, but it could be done. The effect was well worth the effort." Recommended for a pleasant and leisurely stroll down memory lane.



5. This is a fun book that talks about life in small-city Utah in the 1910s and 1920s. This author has a very warm, flowing style that adds a lot of fun life and nostalgia for the time when he could easily wander the streets as a harmless hooligan. There were a lot of implicit rules that boys of that era followed, and Douglas Thayer spells out those rules in a way that makes you feel as though you were really there. Although life was hard growing up, he didn't really notice because of the freedom and safety that his era allowed.

5 comments about Bye Bye Baby: My Tragic Love Affair with The Bay City Rollers.

1. Well sure, hardcore BCR fans are going to hate this book-- but don't let that put you off this magnificently self-mortifying book. Caroline Sullivan nails the illogic of teen obsession so well I squirmed (wasn't BCR for me, fortunately-- it was the Who-- there but for the grace of god). She knew BCR were hacks and grossly untalented. She had otherwise great taste in music. And yet... and yet... Buy this book. Treasure it. And make sure to hand it down to your daughter when she gets caught up in the latest manufactured pop-- boy band-- hysteria juggernaut.



2. Okay...it was just great fun to read the memories of another Bay City Roller fan who actually had the resources and, well, nerve to go chase them down. It was a superb trip down memory lane ... well written, funny, sad, absolutely loved it. The Bay City Rollers took over two years of my life as a teenager ... if you liked them, you were nothing short of obsessed with them. Great job, Caroline ... thanks for such a wonderfully inspired read.



3. This is the book to read if you ever thought you'd found the rock star that you were meant to love for life! Fantastic tale of obsession and fear and joy and fun and desperation. Kudos for this honest and grand story.



4. I wasn't sure what to expect with this book, but once I got a couple of chapters into it, I had an epiphany. Caroline Sullivan and her Tacky Tartan Tarts could have been me and my friends had we had the means to follow any of the teen idols we adored. That's when for me the story stopped being about the BCR and started being about a slightly tilted mirror image of myself. If you go into to this thinking you're getting great insight into Leslie, Eric, Woody, Derek, Alan et al, then this isn't the book for you. If you want to remember the pure joy you experienced in loving these guys, and you're not afraid of taking off the blinders and seeing how they saw you in return, then get this book. Thanks, Caroline, for the memories and sharing the mirror!



5. Another book I could not put down and went through in a few readings. Great stories. Really brought back memories of the 70's and the rollers

5 comments about An Open Book: Coming of Age in the Heartland.

1. It's a bit intimidating to write a review of a book by a book reviewer, but I have to try, as I loved this book so much! I have a long list of books to read in the future, and once one of them comes to the top, I sometimes have forgotten what it's going to be about, so this one came as a real treat. It tells of the author's childhood in Lorain, Ohio in the late 40s to the 60s, including his years at Oberlin. As an avid reader with many memories of the joy of childhood reading (although I was not as sophisticated in my tastes are Dirda!) it's always a treat to be brought back to the that wonderful feeling of having a pile of new books to read, from the library or thrift stores or the school book club! I enjoyed the list of books he had read through age 16 in an appendix. I felt better about my own youthful reading knowing we had both at least read a few of the same books, even the quite light Cheaper by the Dozen!

   An added treat for me is that although I didn't know this would be the case when I started the book, I got much insight into the land of my own early childhood---I was born in Elyria, next to Lorain, although we moved when I was 6, and my parents both went to Oberlin, a bit earlier than Dirda. Earlier in the day I started this book, my mother for some reason told me of a time my father bought me shoes at Januzzi's, a shoe store I'd never heard of before---reading later that day of the author's own trip to Januzzi's was one of my most amazing reading moments of my lifetime! Any author who can create a scene of place like Dirda did with the Lorain of his childhood is truly gifted.

   I am eager now to get my hands of Dirda's other book, Readings! Keep writing, Michael Dirda!!




2. As I am a near contemporary of the author in age, I found an uncanny mirroring of my life in his...similar touchstones of products, events, TV shows, etc. many of which I had long forgotten. But what was the key pleasure of reading about this otherwise common life (and I throw myself in that descriptor as well)was the impact that various books had on him...something I could also identify with as another lifelong avid reader.
   
   Dirda mentions book titles to show how they affected his imagination, his decisions, his way of looking at the world. For those who argue there is no concrete utility in reading and are satisfied that future generations are losing this habit, this book is the best argument to the contrary I know. Not that there is any solemnity to his story or any self-importance. His is a wry, affectionate tale of growing up in the straight-laced Midwest in the 50's. But it is his love of literature that irradiates his story. Recommended for those who want to remember why they love to read and how they got that way.



3. Everything Michael wrote in his book brought back so many boyhood memories for for my friend. It wasn't just the big things, it was the little things Dirda wrote about that brought smiles and tugged at the heart.



4. This is an extraordinary story of an ordinary life. From comic books, to the Hardy Boys to Faust to the French classics, we go on a ride through books with Mike Dirda. I also grew up in the Midwest at about the same time and I can identify with just about every page of the book. Extraordinary.



5. I read this book a year or two ago, but remembered it again recently while reading Wendy Werris's new memoir, An Alphabetical Life, because both reflect such a love of books. To people like Dirda and Werris - and me - books are nearly as important as eating, loving, breathing. And that affinity is so astutely reflected here in Michael Dirda's story of his childhood in Lorraine, Ohio. It's a midwest boyhood to the nth degree, albeit one of a kind of nerdy, bookish unathletic kid. I was a kid like Mike. I could relate. If you grew up in the fifties and sixties and loved books, then don't miss this one. It will take you back - to those dusty, second-hand bookstores you found with such joy, and to your folks yelling at you to "getcher nose outa that book and go outside for a while! It's a beautiful day, dammit!" Like that. Thanks for sharing your kidhood, Mike. - Tim Bazzett, author of Reed City Boy

5 comments about Ellie: A Story of Profound Loss and Abuse.

1. Deborah Rose reveals the inescapable life of abused children in her book, "Ellie - A Story of Profound Loss and Abuse". "Ellie" is a first-hand account of a disturbing reality shared by far too many children - only the intimate details, the people involved and the locations are different. "Ellie" could epitomize the concealed horrific life of a child you know, perhaps even yourself.
   
   "Ellie" doesn't waste words in an attempt to make the issue unduly sensitive or pretty and Ms Rose isn't trying to put the reader in her shoes to solicit sympathy - she's concise and to the point - child abuse is real and she's lived it! It isn't just something that happens in other countries - it happens closer to home but children are forced to never tell their secrets!
   
   Ms Rose not only captures the hell that children experience while being abused, she offers helpful words of inspiration and hope for other Survivors who are searching for a way to heal from childhood abuse. "Ellie" is also a must-read for people who don't understand the agony that constitutes the unfair lives of abused children not only during abuse but for the remainder of their tormented lives.
   
   "Ellie" and Ms Rose are true inspirations!
   
   Catharsis Foundation
   "It's Time To Tell!"



2. In reading the story of Ellie many emotions were stirred within me. I too grew up in an abusive home however I never endured the horrors that she did. I am amazed at the strength this young girl showed throughout years of constant abuse, neglect and upheaval. Not to mention the loss of both parents at such a young age. Ellie could have turned toward a life of crime and drug addiction and she could have repeated the abuse, continuing the cycle but, she didn't. All survivors of child abuse need to read this book for inspiration. And if you never had to endure an abusive childhood you too need to read this book to gain understanding of what it is like for a child to be under the control of a very sick adult.



3. Wow. I don't even know what to say. I just spent an hour of my life reading this book, and I want it back.
   
   It reads like a synopsis, with no discernible scenes, little dialogue, poor style and punctuation. It's unpublishable material that probably wouldn't have seen the light of day in the hands of a capable publisher such as Random House or Penguin. (The folks who published this book will publish anyone.) Have a look inside and see for yourself.
   
   If the subject matter interests you, try reading a work by someone who actually knows how to write: White Oleander and Ellen Foster are pretty good.



4. This book was very good. I could not put it down. What Ellie went through was so sad! At different points of the book I was crying. I highly recommend this book.



5. When I purchased this book I was expecting to read the story of abuse, the experience of processing through it, and the aftermath of living with and dealing with the sexual abuse.
   
   What I read was a story about a young girl being abused and how she escaped when she became an adult. There was no account of how she worked through the abuse. The end was terrible, basically she got married, had kids and lived happily ever after.
   
   I commend the author for writting about her abuse, however, this is not a book that someone can learn from. It is more of a diary/journal of her experiences, that avoids getting close to painful memories and events of her life.

3 comments about Memoirs of Childhood and Youth.

1. This superbe little book is a simple and engaging introduction to Schweitzer's life and thoughts. He has a knack for describing, with directness and humor, the thoughts and feelings of himself as a child learning some of life's tough lessons. For anyone interested in Albert Schweitzer, what a perfect place to start!



2. In order to fully understand the philosophy of Reverence For Life to its full meaning one must understand the man behind the legend that is Albert Schweitzer. This book gives us a glimpse of a youthful Schweitzer from his humble beginnings in Gunsbach. As this Nobel laureate reminisces about his childhood days he reveals the poignant moments that forever shaped one of the most brilliant minds of the last century. Delightful and readable, Memoirs is a treasured classic among those who study the great philosophers. I highly recommend this book for all ages but particularly for youth as a starting place for Schweitzer study- you won't be disappointed!



3. Eloquently written, this small book is packed with stories and wisdoms that shaped this great man's life. One particular chapter on gratitude struck a chord in my own life as he wrote of remorse of not being able to thank those teachers and mentors that had passed on. Schweitzer's life was an example of supreme service to mankind, and he coined the words "Reverence for Life" which spearheaded a movement to remember that all life is sacred. This book will burn a desire in the reader's heart to live life with greater awareness and gratitude for all people with whom we come in contact.

1 comments about Truth Comes in Blows: A Memoir.

1. This is a well-written evocative memoir. Painful to read in places. Someone once said that we read to know that we are not alone. This sums up my feelings about this book. I'd add that we read in order to get enough distance to empathize. "Turth" is an elegant tale about struggling to grow up in sometimes dire emotional circumstances. It's especially refreshing because it is not a mewling, raging therapy session as so many similar stories are today. It's a painting of a time (Depression era America) and place (industrial burgs of NYC) and an attempt to come to terms with great suffering in a dignified manner. And it's so much more.

No comments about Ducks across the Moon: Life on Eighty Acres in the Flint Hills.

3 comments about Pig Tails 'n Breadfruit: A Culinary Memoir.

1. This culinary memoir of the author's childhood in Barbados describes his early introduction to cooking, his involvement with native dishes, and his progress in becoming a cook. Don't look for recipes here; it's more a memoir and biography of Barbados cooking, though descriptions of preparing dishes are lovingly detailed and rival James Beard's American presentations.



2. This delightful book evokes the language and spirit of Barbados. The author weaves in tales of growing up in Barbados with memories of the food, 'hot cuisine', that fashioned his childhood. For anyone who has visited the island, this will surely bring back fond and enticing memories. Read the book, visit Barbados!



3. The more acquainted you are with the food rituals of West Indians (and Bajans in particular), the more you should restrain yourself from reading this book in public. You will grin, chuckle and gafaw, and people will stare at you.

4 comments about War Child: Growing Up in Adolf Hitler's Germany.

1. Ms. Woodstrom's first publication will help you understand the reason so many Germans viewed Hitler and his promises the way they did before and during WWII. This book is a first hand account from the author, presented in her voice at the various stages of her life during this time. She tells of the day-to-day life of her family and community and captures the perceptions that people had about Hitler, the economy, the reasons for this war and the drastic changes in their lives. It's a real insight into the struggles and the challenges and yes, even the joyful times. "War Child" not only kept me reading far into the night, it also left me feeling like I want to know more...what happened to her family, her neighbors and her town after she left? I have a new appreciation for the freedom and abundance here in America. This book is suitable for all ages.



2. We are grateful to have learned of this book when it was first published in spring 2003. It gives an unusual and unfortunately rarely noted perspective about German life from 1933-45 as experienced by an ordinary person and family in a small town. Annelee tells her own story in a very open and honest way, from the early days when she wanted to wear the uniform of the Hitler Youth, to the terrifying end days of the war when urban Germany was virtually destroyed. This is not an academic study of war theories; it is about what really happens to a people when their government chooses a tragic course.



3. What a book! What a storyteller! I remember a few snippets from freshman English class that you shared with us, but the opportunity to glimpse the whole picture was a rare treat I've been looking forward to.

   I once read an account by an "undercover" war correspondent- who attended a speech by Hitler, and found himself so moved and overwhelmed by his speaking prowess that he suddenly found himself cheering and shouting with the rest of the crowd. You communicated that same spirit, that same awesome power of the prevailing tide. I feel one lesson that Nazi Germany teaches us is how dangerous unchecked government can be: how it can creep into and start to control our daily lives -with the best of intentions- and soon compromise our freedoms and even our right to independent thought. I very much appreciate and value your perspective as one who has lived through such a strict (and successful!) propaganda machine. I strongly feel if we just trust in our elected leaders and let them satisfy our wants and desires in exchange for ever-increasing tax rates the United States will soon cease to exist as we know and love it.

   On the other hand, I'm forced to be impressed by what the Third Reich was able to accomplish; how a broken and defeated nation at the end of WWI was able to come within a stone's throw of conquering the world. It's been said that if Hitler hadn't imprisoned all of the (Jewish) scientists... Germany would have developed the A-bomb before the United States and ended the war on their terms. Germany already had a more reliable rocket (V-2) than we did! What also strikes me is the wealth of development that Germany saw before and early in the war - the autobahn, fine, new schools (for loyal party members of course), the housing and works programs and impressive social motivations to join the Nazi party always reflected Hitler's genius side (not the other side of his personality that wrought great suffering and evil). How insightful he was regarding human nature though - how else could he have enticed so many to join his crusade.

   In one part of your book I actually stopped reading and contemplated how beautiful the writing is - how descriptive and wonderful the wording; when you described the morning of your departure and the breathtaking surroundings you were so familiar with that I truly felt the natural wonder - and the love you had for your home.

   Thank you again for letting me share in your story. I will be recommending this book to my friends!!




4. I was honored to be able to buy this book directly from the author when she attended our women's Spring Luncheon as our Guest Speaker. She was so kind as to sign it for me with a German dedication. Although I was born an American, my children both carry German passports. I am glad for this opportunity to share with them the story of their country through the eyes of someone who was there to experience it all first hand.

   We are already planning to buy her next book, War Bride, and read more about her experiences with immigration.