The Books That Changed My Life: Reflections by 100 Authors, Actors, Musicians and Other Remarkable People. Regan Arts. Mar. 2016. 304p. ed. by Bethanne Patrick. ISBN 9781941393659. $24.95; ebk. ISBN 9781942872290. LIT
The House That Made Me: Writers Reflect on the Places and People That Defined Them. SparkPress: BookSparks. Apr. 2016. 178p. ed. by Grant Jarrett. ISBN 9781940716312. pap. $17; ebk. ISBN 9781940716329. LIT
Many have searched their childhood home address using Google Earth. You will, too, after reading this exceptional collection of 19 essays by writers who located the satellite images of their dwellings, found anywhere from Iowa to Liberia. Editor Jarrett introduces the anthology as a “hodgepodge of thoughts, sensations, and emotions an image brings.” A thread of sadness runs through the accounts as memories emerge of loud arguments, disappearing fathers, family violence, and whispers about not enough money. The charm of each piece is how the author balances that raw stress with recollections of the joys of youth. Antonya Nelson revisits her mazelike childhood home with her siblings, who, after a few bottles of wine, decide to venture into their favorite nooks and crannies. Roof climbing is a particular passion recalled by Ru Freeman and Roy Kesey. What matters today is not the feat, but the dreams realized up on the roof. Porochista Khakpour, born in Tehran and raised in Los Angles, recalls “the dingbats,” the two-story apartment complexes with cheap rents and fancy names. VERDICT Slim and succinct, this exquisite compilation shows how the universal nature of childhood experiences trump both cultural and geographical differences.
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