Books Blog : families, memoir

Happy Belated Mother's Day: The Gift of an Ordinary Day by Katrina Kenison

kiya@evpl — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 15:17:00 GMT

I meant to write this several weeks ago, before Mother's Day, but I've had trouble sitting down to try and put into words what this book meant to me. I picked it up last fall when it was new. The flyleaf calls it "a memoir of a family in transition" and mentioned children becoming teenagers, and the search for the right college for Kenison's older son. Because my children are teens, and my son was in the midst of the college search, I took it home.

Kenison was in the midst of more transitions - her family also moved from a Boston suburb to rural New Hampshire, they ended up with a house requiring much renovation, and there were job changes for the parents, as well. Though Kenison's choices were different than the ones I probably would have made, I deeply understood her feelings of struggling to see what would be best for her family, and to balance the sacrifices of each against the benefits for each. Sometimes she took my breath away with the honesty in her descriptions of the arguments with her sons, especially her younger, newly adolescent son who hated the move to New Hampshire. Still, they weathered it all, and came through a stronger family, though one that was beginning to move in different directions.

What brought this to mind as Mother's Day approached, was the sense that while parenting encompasses lots of sacrifices on the part of the adults, the gifts in parenting go both ways, and Kenison clearly shows this in her story. The greatest gifts, she believes, are not in the big days, but in the ordinary days.

Katrina Kenison's website

Katrina Kenison's blog

EVPL copies of The Gift of an Ordinary Day

EVPL copies of Mitten Strings for God, Kenison's earlier book

Love As Always, Kurt: Vonnegut As I Knew Him, by Loree Rackstraw

Bufkinite@evpl — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 06:21:00 GMT

In September of 1965 Lorree Rackstraw was a graduate student in her second year at the Iowa Writer's Workshop, apprehensive about her new teacher, a relatively unknown writer named Kurt Vonnegut. Vonnegut had published just three books: The Sirens of Titan, Mother Night, and Cat's Cradle. He'd also finished writing God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater the previous spring, and was struggling to get onto paper what he referred to as his "Dresden Book."

Love As Always, Kurt, recounts the friendship that began that summer, and lasted over 40 years, until Kurt Vonnegut died in April of 2007. To call it a friendship cheapens the care that this memoir makes clear they shared with one another. Rackstraw is now Professor Emeritus and the University of Northern Iowa & former editor of The North American Review.

This memoir of Rackstraw's forty-year relationship with Kurt Vonnegut is a very personal and deep look into both the human and the writer behind the name Kurt Vonnegut. We see clearly how, as a writer, he labors in draft after draft of everything he wrote from Slaughterhouse Five to Man Without a Country, and down to the speeches he gave at countless colleges, universities, graduations, and memorial services. We see, just as clearly, how he champions common humanity, and simultaneously enjoys the company of the famous and relatively well-to-do. We see how, despite periods of darkness and cynicism, this relationship buoyed Vonnegut, and provided Rackstraw with an escape from the pressures of her academic career as well.

We see, most plainly, a deep and abiding friendship that transcends all normal definitions. Was it love? Definitely. What it friendship? In the most useful meaning of the word, yes. But it was more: it was a collegial relationship - Vonnegut sent her page proofs of everything from Slaughterhouse Five forward; it was an intimate relationship, certainly: "Kurt and I toured the town of Key West, hand in hand like kids, and took photographs of each other beside somebody else's catch of a huge fish... Later, we danced barefoot under moonlight on that beach, to ragtime music from the piano bar;" and ultimately, it was a lifelong relationship, that saw a parting of the ways only in the death of one.

Being a long-time Vonnegut fan, I loved this book. It represents a first-hand account of four decades of his life by someone who he consistently loved, and who loved him in return. A tender portrait.

E Can Write More Than Songs

Shh_ImReading@evpl — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 20:28:00 GMT

Mark Oliver Everett is probably better known simply as E, the lead singer and creative force behind the Eels, but a few months ago he published a memoir under his full name called Things the Grandchildren Should Know. He might be a little younger than most people who've decided to write memoirs, but people in his family don't seem to live long lives, so he decided to write it while he still could. Tragedy and triumph have occurred over and over in his life, with little middle ground between. It's quite a story, whether you read the book yourself or have E's friend Chet read it to you on the CD audio version. I would recommend it not just to Eels fans, but also to anyone who enjoys a good memoir.

Things the Grandchildren Should Know by Mark Oliver Everett

Things the Grandchildren Should Know by Mark Oliver Everett -- CD audio edition, read by Chet Lyster

Eels' music available at the library

The Longest Trip Home

wag.mado@evpl — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 17:08:00 GMT

After reading several mixed reviews on John Grogan's newest book, I took the plunge and decided I'd see for myself. I really didn't think there was any way I could like the book as much as the bestselling "Marley and Me", but I didn't think it would be as bad as some of the reviews I read either.

This memoir is mostly a story about growing up Catholic in the 1950's. Since, I grew up Catholic in the 1950's, I could relate with almost everything - except being an altar boy. I could also understand how those who did not grow up Catholic may not like the book - and realized how those who are Catholic could be offended or taken aback by Grogan's feelings about his religious upbringing with extremely devout parents.

The book (which I listened to on audio, read by Grogan himself) did have places that seemed to drag on. However, I stayed with it because I never lost my curiosity about where the story was taking me, as Grogan tried to become his own person, living life with a moral code different from his parents.

All that being said - I liked this book. It was an honest, sometimes humorous, sometimes heart wrenching memoir, written by a person who tried to find his own place in the world even when it didn't follow the path his parents had in mind. In that respect, this could be the life story of many of us.

Oh, and about the book being as good as "Marley?" Heavens no! Not even Grogan himself could upstage that beloved dog.

"House at Sugar Beach" by Helene Cooper

wag.mado@evpl — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 17:41:00 GMT

I just finished one of those books that will stay with me for a long while. Helene Cooper's memoir, The House at Sugar Beach: in Search of a Lost African Childhood is remarkable and haunting. Her journalistic expertise opens the reader up to a privileged Liberian childhood, which ended in 1980 when she turned 14. The coup took place and the civil war began at a horrific cost to all of Liberia. Cooper, her mother, and sister fled their beloved country, leaving behind much bloodshed and many relatives - including an adopted sister.

This tale, although personal, is historical. Cooper sets the stage by relating how Liberia was settled by her ancestors, who were freed American slaves. It's filled with many vivid images of a pre-revolutionary lifestyle that was full of "American" possessions, humor, and close family ties. It all ended with post-war bloodshed, heartache, misery and poverty for Liberians. The book ends with Cooper's revealing return to her homeland, in search of the adopted sister she left behind.

I listened to this book on CD and would highly recommend the book in audio format. Helene Cooper narrates the book herself, at times speaking Liberian English ("Congo" style) - making the story come to life. I will be looking for more from the gifted Helene Cooper in the future.