George Hodgman has a unique voice which sets this memoir apart from any other. He is remarkably observant, quick and witty, allowing him to be both laugh-out-loud funny and achingly tender while describing caring for his elderly mother with dementia. Hodgman believes that he garnered this ability to entertain through his experience of growing up gay in a small and conservative rural Missouri town where he was forced to deflect attention through humor. At a recent booktalk, an audience member began her question "I'm interested in growing up gay in a small town...". Hodgman interjected, "it's too late for that, Honey." He is as sharp in person as in print.
In the book, Hodgman who has led a successful editing career in NYC returns to his hometown to care for his sometimes cantankerous mother. Underlying themes include aging, communication, belonging, and, most of all, the importance of kindness in its variety of forms. My heart swells at the unconventional depictions of kindness in this book.
Bitter River by Julia Keller
A Killing in the Hills by Julia Keller
The Kingdom by Amanda Stevens
The Restorer by Amanda Stevens
Prayers the Devil Answers by Sharyn McCrumb
A Year in the World: Journeys of a Passionate Traveller by Frances Mayes
Love the One You're With by Emily Giffin
The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
George Hodgman has a unique voice which sets this memoir apart from any other. He is remarkably observant, quick and witty, allowing him to be both laugh-out-loud funny and achingly tender while describing caring for his elderly mother with dementia. Hodgman believes that he garnered this ability to entertain through his experience of growing up gay in a small and conservative rural Missouri town where he was forced to deflect attention through humor. At a recent booktalk, an audience member began her question "I'm interested in growing up gay in a small town...". Hodgman interjected, "it's too late for that, Honey." He is as sharp in person as in print.
Jeannette Walls is an excellent storyteller. I loved her memoir, The Glass Castle, but I enjoyed reading Half Broke Horses even more. In Half Broke Horses, Walls shares to remarkable adventures of her maternal grandmother, Lily Casey Smith, to whom Walls feels a kindred spirit. Like many heroines of the American Frontier, Lily Casey Smith is brave, resourceful, and no-nonsense.