Coming of age in the Atomic age
April 22, 2011 10:44 PM Subscribe
What are your favorite mid-century memoirs?
I love reading stories about people growing up in mid-century America. From post-WWII to about the time we landed on the moon. I prefer non-fiction, but will happily take a good fiction recommendation as well.
Some of the books I enjoy that inspired this request are:
The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson
Rocket Boys by Homer Hickam
The Prize Winner of Defiance Ohio by Terry Ryan
What other books might I enjoy?
I love reading stories about people growing up in mid-century America. From post-WWII to about the time we landed on the moon. I prefer non-fiction, but will happily take a good fiction recommendation as well.
Some of the books I enjoy that inspired this request are:
The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson
Rocket Boys by Homer Hickam
The Prize Winner of Defiance Ohio by Terry Ryan
What other books might I enjoy?
A Girl Named Zippy: Growing Up Small in Mooreland, Indiana by Haven Kimmel was great, maybe a little bit outside your time frame, but well worth it.
posted by That's Numberwang! at 11:43 PM on April 22, 2011
posted by That's Numberwang! at 11:43 PM on April 22, 2011
Tobias Wolff's This Boy's Life
posted by brujita at 11:47 PM on April 22, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by brujita at 11:47 PM on April 22, 2011 [1 favorite]
Brent Staples: Parallel Time
Pat Conroy: My Losing Season
posted by coffeefilter at 12:17 AM on April 23, 2011
Pat Conroy: My Losing Season
posted by coffeefilter at 12:17 AM on April 23, 2011
A Childhood: The Biography of a Place by Harry Crews is the story of the author's Depression-era childhood in Bacon County, Georgia. A patchwork of memories, some appalling, some endearing, written with wit and honesty.
posted by BitterOldPunk at 12:47 AM on April 23, 2011
posted by BitterOldPunk at 12:47 AM on April 23, 2011
Daybreak, Joan Baez' autobiography of her childhood and early career. Very, very vivid description of childhood and of maturing into dissent during the Vietnam era. She's written another volume, And A Voice To Sing With: A Memoir, but that's still in my yet-to-read pile.
She's Not There, A Life In Two Genders, by Jennifer Finney Boylan. A deeply honest account of Boylan's childhood, adolescence and adult transition from James to Jenny.
Breaking Clean, by Judy Blunt. She describes her upbringing as a third generation homesteader in Montana, and finally having to leave (children in tow) when she could no longer repress her mind.
This House of Sky: Landscapes Of A Western Mind, by Ivan Doig. Another Montana childhood, this time by a man, so less painful re gender roles. Very moving description of family and place.
Dream Catcher, A Memoir, by Margaret A. Salinger. From the New York Post review: "Blows the lid off her father's bizarre, secretive life... the details are fascinating".
And though she grew up much earlier, Swanson On Swanson, by Gloria Swanson is a completely enthralling memoir of her childhood, Hollywood in the early studio days, megastardom, and her amazing career as a venture capitalist for innovative scientists. And did you know she was also a cryptologist during WWII?
posted by likeso at 3:35 AM on April 23, 2011
She's Not There, A Life In Two Genders, by Jennifer Finney Boylan. A deeply honest account of Boylan's childhood, adolescence and adult transition from James to Jenny.
Breaking Clean, by Judy Blunt. She describes her upbringing as a third generation homesteader in Montana, and finally having to leave (children in tow) when she could no longer repress her mind.
This House of Sky: Landscapes Of A Western Mind, by Ivan Doig. Another Montana childhood, this time by a man, so less painful re gender roles. Very moving description of family and place.
Dream Catcher, A Memoir, by Margaret A. Salinger. From the New York Post review: "Blows the lid off her father's bizarre, secretive life... the details are fascinating".
And though she grew up much earlier, Swanson On Swanson, by Gloria Swanson is a completely enthralling memoir of her childhood, Hollywood in the early studio days, megastardom, and her amazing career as a venture capitalist for innovative scientists. And did you know she was also a cryptologist during WWII?
posted by likeso at 3:35 AM on April 23, 2011
Manhattan When I was Young by Mary Cantwell is a wonderful read and a fantastic look at 1950s NYC.
posted by cymru_j at 3:58 AM on April 23, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by cymru_j at 3:58 AM on April 23, 2011 [1 favorite]
I'll second Harry Crews and also mention Harry Middleton's wonderful The Earth is Enough.
posted by silence down below at 7:05 AM on April 23, 2011
posted by silence down below at 7:05 AM on April 23, 2011
Oh! Oh! Burning the Days by James Salter. Gorgeous prose. Fantastic life.
posted by whimsicalnymph at 7:35 AM on April 23, 2011
posted by whimsicalnymph at 7:35 AM on April 23, 2011
Wanda Hickey's Night of Golden Memories and Other Disasters by Jean Shepherd is a hilarious and gently nostalgic account of his boyhood in 1950s Indiana.
posted by Quietgal at 7:38 AM on April 23, 2011
posted by Quietgal at 7:38 AM on April 23, 2011
Patrick Dennis' The Joyous Season (same guy who did Auntie Mame). He really captures the feel of New York City in the 60s.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 8:04 AM on April 23, 2011
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 8:04 AM on April 23, 2011
Act One by Moss Hart. The way he writes! Your library will have it, for sure.
posted by BostonTerrier at 9:18 AM on April 23, 2011
posted by BostonTerrier at 9:18 AM on April 23, 2011
Willie Morris' North Toward Home is a fantastic look at the segregation-era deep south, and Texas in the 60's. The book covers his early life up until he moved to New York to work at Harper's.
I'm just now about 40 pages into Goodbye to a River by John Graves, and so far, it's just beautiful. It's of regional interest and kinda outdoorsy, but his writing style is really fantastic.
posted by Devils Rancher at 12:50 PM on April 23, 2011
I'm just now about 40 pages into Goodbye to a River by John Graves, and so far, it's just beautiful. It's of regional interest and kinda outdoorsy, but his writing style is really fantastic.
posted by Devils Rancher at 12:50 PM on April 23, 2011
Michael Dirda's An Open Book is a wonderful account of his book-obsessed life from childhood to college in a blue-collar family in Ohio.
posted by Philemon at 7:31 PM on April 23, 2011
posted by Philemon at 7:31 PM on April 23, 2011
Frank McCourt, both Angela's Ashes and Tis. Angela's Ashes was not written about coming through childhood in the US but rather in Ireland but it's a book that everyone should read. Tis is Mc Court after he hit the ground running here stateside, how his life unfolded since his feet hit the ground here.
Mary Karr wrote The Liars Club, an account not only of her childhood in the sixties and seventies but also of her parents childhoods, twenty years before. A book that truly has the sense of Texas nailed, particularly East Texas, close to the Louisiana line; she has the voice perfect, I have met those people, she's really caught it well. A great read.
posted by dancestoblue at 12:38 AM on April 24, 2011
Mary Karr wrote The Liars Club, an account not only of her childhood in the sixties and seventies but also of her parents childhoods, twenty years before. A book that truly has the sense of Texas nailed, particularly East Texas, close to the Louisiana line; she has the voice perfect, I have met those people, she's really caught it well. A great read.
posted by dancestoblue at 12:38 AM on April 24, 2011
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Susan Allen Toth's Blooming: A Small Town Girlhood and Ivy Days: Making My Way Out East
Maya Angelou
Florence King's Confessions of a Failed Southern Lady....
posted by brujita at 11:29 PM on April 22, 2011