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cassandra_t's review against another edition
4.0
I read this book for my local book club. I had mixed feelings about it. There are definitely trigger warnings (death of a loved one, rape, alcohol/drugs/smoking, racism, etc.) I questioned how much of her life may have been embellished or not exactly accurately remembered. However, the shock factor was there of some of the stuff that she went through, as well as it was well-written and kept you hooked. My least favourite was the part about Veronica as it almost made me DNF the book. However, I pushed through and found the read to be quite fascinating of all that she witnessed and experienced and decisions she made. I plan to read the first book too, as we didn’t realize that this was her second book of her life story and continues where the first left off. I am curious about her younger years.
latenightwriter's review against another edition
DNF
This book was quite good while I was still reading it. Unfortunately, it took me far too long to read, and thus I started reading other books until this one got left behind. Had I tried to finish it at this point I would have just been confused as to what was happening in the story. Who knows, though. Maybe one day I'll try to read it again.
This book was quite good while I was still reading it. Unfortunately, it took me far too long to read, and thus I started reading other books until this one got left behind. Had I tried to finish it at this point I would have just been confused as to what was happening in the story. Who knows, though. Maybe one day I'll try to read it again.
mbonvino's review against another edition
5.0
A comical account of Catherine Gildiner's youth in the 60's. A great first-hand account of a white female during the Civil Rights Movement dealing with everything from college to her father's illness.
crabbygirl's review against another edition
3.0
uneven.
having thoroughly enjoyed her first memoir, Too Close To The Falls, i wanted to like this book. it started well - with a firm departure from her childhood town (and her childhood years): on to the tumultuous teen years. and here's where it faltered for the first time: without a sufficient emotional connection between her and her father established (unless you just finished reading Too Close to the Falls), she drops a bomb on page 43 that her father's recently changed attitude and behavior is a result of financial ruin (which in turn was caused by his generous heart) as a reader, there isn't enough time for us to be invested in this relationship. and this relationship is supposed to be reflected upon at many time throughout the novel.
the junior high years are funny. this part has the same vibe from her first book where she's the odd-man-out looking in at these strange creatures we call human beings. but then it gets dicey - she does an about-face over sororities supposedly over racism but that just happens to coincide with their rejection of her due to her acne. suddenly, she's a mishmash of contradictions. after she gets to college, she continually acts as if she is seeing racism for the first time (over and over). then the author has to hide the fact that she is no longer wearing her sweater sets from her mother because her mother had spent so much money on her fashion - but she also says her mother knew the pretense of normalcy using clothes was absurd. so which was it?
often times the plot point were confusing. her car is blocked in by a pick-up truck and an altercation seems imminent; a punch is thrown and then the car speeds off. how? when did the pick-up truck get out of the way?
other times, her behavior seems 'explained away' in a manner i did NOT find convincing. like the time she worked in a donut shop - she took the time to wash her hands and arms, clean her nails, change uniforms AND redo her hair before she discovered the kitchen fire she started. or when she was the only white person to use the black power salute at a baseball game; she says it was for unity with all black people and her black boyfriend but she never asks him afterwards why he didn't share his plans for doing so.
there are too many people in this memoir, and many that could have been ignored altogether. for example, if you decide to put on a play - must you mention that you knew a friend named X and that she had friends Y and Z in town and they wanted you to see a play and you thought it was bad and that you could do better? lastly, the book overplays her love affair with a black man and her civil rights actions. it smacked of: i'm not a racist and here's my proof.
that said, i found this book to be an exercise in nostalgia in so many ways - a father, in his pyjamas, kneeling for the family nightly prayers is a scene taken from my own young life... being asked to exit from a car while parked on a busy freeway for poor conduct (she didn't obey, but i did, when it happened to me)
having thoroughly enjoyed her first memoir, Too Close To The Falls, i wanted to like this book. it started well - with a firm departure from her childhood town (and her childhood years): on to the tumultuous teen years. and here's where it faltered for the first time: without a sufficient emotional connection between her and her father established (unless you just finished reading Too Close to the Falls), she drops a bomb on page 43 that her father's recently changed attitude and behavior is a result of financial ruin (which in turn was caused by his generous heart) as a reader, there isn't enough time for us to be invested in this relationship. and this relationship is supposed to be reflected upon at many time throughout the novel.
the junior high years are funny. this part has the same vibe from her first book where she's the odd-man-out looking in at these strange creatures we call human beings. but then it gets dicey - she does an about-face over sororities supposedly over racism but that just happens to coincide with their rejection of her due to her acne. suddenly, she's a mishmash of contradictions. after she gets to college, she continually acts as if she is seeing racism for the first time (over and over). then the author has to hide the fact that she is no longer wearing her sweater sets from her mother because her mother had spent so much money on her fashion - but she also says her mother knew the pretense of normalcy using clothes was absurd. so which was it?
often times the plot point were confusing. her car is blocked in by a pick-up truck and an altercation seems imminent; a punch is thrown and then the car speeds off. how? when did the pick-up truck get out of the way?
other times, her behavior seems 'explained away' in a manner i did NOT find convincing. like the time she worked in a donut shop - she took the time to wash her hands and arms, clean her nails, change uniforms AND redo her hair before she discovered the kitchen fire she started. or when she was the only white person to use the black power salute at a baseball game; she says it was for unity with all black people and her black boyfriend but she never asks him afterwards why he didn't share his plans for doing so.
there are too many people in this memoir, and many that could have been ignored altogether. for example, if you decide to put on a play - must you mention that you knew a friend named X and that she had friends Y and Z in town and they wanted you to see a play and you thought it was bad and that you could do better? lastly, the book overplays her love affair with a black man and her civil rights actions. it smacked of: i'm not a racist and here's my proof.
that said, i found this book to be an exercise in nostalgia in so many ways - a father, in his pyjamas, kneeling for the family nightly prayers is a scene taken from my own young life... being asked to exit from a car while parked on a busy freeway for poor conduct (she didn't obey, but i did, when it happened to me)
lenascholman's review against another edition
5.0
How many memoirs out there are page-turners?
I need to catch up on my lost sleep now.
Beautiful and poignant, full of universal tragedy and grace.
How long will I have to wait for part 3?
I need to catch up on my lost sleep now.
Beautiful and poignant, full of universal tragedy and grace.
How long will I have to wait for part 3?
corncobwebs's review against another edition
I read the first volume of Catherine Gildiner's memoirs last year around this time, and I loved it - she had such an interesting childhood, and she tells about it in such a hilarious way. This volume of her memoirs focuses on her teenage and college years, and is still funny in parts but generally more subdued because she had to deal with some pretty weighty events. Her father is diagnosed with inoperable brain cancer when she's in high school, and when she's in college she has a long-term relationship with a man that she discovers is married with two children. Not to mention her close high school friend who was killed in Vietnam, another high school friend who becomes a paraplegic, and a college friend who never recovers from a bad acid trip. If I went through all this, I doubt I would be able to handle it gracefully, if at all. But Gildiner seems to have boundless energy and faces every obstacle in her life head-on. She is a great example of how life is what you make of it. I really hope she writes a third volume of her memoirs - I would definitely read it. This is a great one to recommend to folks who enjoy memoirs, particularly people who like David Sedaris - their senses of humor are similar, and they seem to have had similarly offbeat parents and childhoods.
jegka's review
4.0
Gildiner writes a completely readable account of her early life. I very much enjoyed "Too Close to the Falls"; and "After the Falls", while darker, was still captivating. Like reading Forest Gump, she seemed to be everywhere anything was happening in the 60s. I don't think, had we been classmates, we would have gotten along, but I really enjoyed looking over her shoulder at her madcap life in the 60s.
emmkayt's review against another edition
3.0
The second book in Catherine Gildiner's series of memoirs. This picks up as she is 13 and moving to Buffalo with her family, and continues to the age of 21. It's a real grab bag of emotions, moving from funny stories of hijinks and smartaleckery to much more serious themes, including her father's illness and death, as well as a really hard to read chapter in which a young woman is sexually degraded by a group of boys.
createassemblage's review
5.0
I loved Catherine Gildiners first portion of her memoir Too Close to the Falls. I was hoping that the 2nd book would be equally as good. This book was a home run. I LOVED it more then the first. This girl has lived one full life and knows how to spin a tale. A really fun read if your grew up in the Buffalo area. To all my friends in book club who read the first book - do pick this up - I read it in two sittings.