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Because Our Fathers Lied: A Memoir of Truth and Family, from Vietnam to Today by Craig McNamara
jlmorris71's review
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.25
Compelling story about a father/son relationship made more complicated with his father’s role in Vietnam as the former Secretary of Defense. Time does not heal all wounds as the author, Craig, had a strained relationship with his father all the years he was alive. I found it very interesting that he never named his father’s second wife as she was left everything in his father’s will and even auctioned off his possessions after his father’s death. A very good memoir.
taylorbutze's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.0
socraticgadfly's review
challenging
fast-paced
2.75
First, the title is a bit weird. There's in reality only one father, singular, under discussion.
Second, I'm with other reviewers in noting Craig doesn't look at the family financial privilege that sent him to Stanford, let him traverse Latin America on a bike, etc., and helped him buy his farm.
Third, he doesn't look at what McNamara might have done wrong at the World Bank in promoting global neoliberalism.
Fourth, he seems very detached from himself in some ways. As much as his dad was from him (and from his own self).
This isn't bad, but, it's a revelation on Craig McNamara's relationship with himself as much as with Bob. And, it's not that long.
Second, I'm with other reviewers in noting Craig doesn't look at the family financial privilege that sent him to Stanford, let him traverse Latin America on a bike, etc., and helped him buy his farm.
Third, he doesn't look at what McNamara might have done wrong at the World Bank in promoting global neoliberalism.
Fourth, he seems very detached from himself in some ways. As much as his dad was from him (and from his own self).
This isn't bad, but, it's a revelation on Craig McNamara's relationship with himself as much as with Bob. And, it's not that long.
jo_crescent's review
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
Framed in the context of a political family divide, the heart of this book is a son’s longing for connection w his father. McNamara’s open hearted approach to his own pain & love touched me in a way I didn’t expect & brought a kind light to my own family experience. I particularly appreciated how he presented the handful of moments when he *did* feel mutual connection w his father, those circumstances in which his father was able & willing to be present.
He ends the book in the acknowledgments by sharing his intention for sharing this memoir w his adult children: “that we may know each other more fully for the rest of our lives” — 🧡
He ends the book in the acknowledgments by sharing his intention for sharing this memoir w his adult children: “that we may know each other more fully for the rest of our lives” — 🧡
adkwriter15's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
2.75
This book was both interesting and odd. It was a bit more literary and esoteric than I like my nonfiction these days, and certainly less about Vietnam and the war itself and more about fathers and legacy and how we reckon with both. The flow itself felt a bit choppy; I was never quite sure where in time we were going to end up from chapter to chapter.
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