Looking for family-focused memoirs July 14, 2011 5:10 AMSubscribe
I'm reading (and really enjoying) The Glass Castle, and my wife and are about to have our first kid. What other memoirs or non-fiction books should I read that focus on parenting, raising kids in unorthodox ways, or just plain unique families? posted by nitsuj to writing & language (20 answers total) 26 users marked this as a favorite
Running With Scissors is entertaining. I'm thinking that this one and your example (which is an amazing book) are more like shining examples of how not to be a parent. To be fair, though, the authors of both turned out to be pretty interesting people. Not to mean that they're in any way manuals for success-- just an observation.
A Girl Named Zippy is another good one. The dad's parenting style is alternately quite harsh and very sweet.
I tend to be a re-reader of books, and these two I've read fairly regularly over the years. posted by mireille at 5:29 AM on July 14, 2011 [3 favorites]
I like Parenting Beyond Belief posted by k8t at 6:11 AM on July 14, 2011
This isn't in the genre of memoir, but Freakonomics had a fascinating section on parenting and naming. They acknowledge how difficult it is to choose a "parenting method," seeing as how there are many schools of thought and the experts tend to disagree with each other.
Instead, Freakonomics focus on data and looks for correlations between school performance and factors ranging from race, gender, family structure, socio-economic status, the level of the parents' own education, to factors like whether or not the children were spanked (and how often), whether the children go to libraries or museums, how much television is watched, etc. For example: Having many books in the house is strongly correlated with high test scores ... but reading to the child every day isn't.
Not a guidebook to parenting by any stretch of the imagination, but it was a thought-provoking read.
(Chapter 5, "What Makes a Perfect Parent?" addresses parenting. Chapter 6 talks about names, which is also interesting.) posted by hypotheticole at 6:21 AM on July 14, 2011
Operating Instructions by Anne Lamott. She is fantastic and this should be standard reading for all new parents. posted by joyride at 6:25 AM on July 14, 2011 [6 favorites]
The Teenage Liberation Handbook (even if a kid goes to school this book is about how to teach teenagers to use all their community resources to get an education) posted by cda at 6:27 AM on July 14, 2011 [2 favorites]
I have recommended my aunt's memoir Breaking Cleanbefore -- people have gone out of their way to recommend The Glass Castle to me because they imagine I will relate because of my family (I loved it, BTW). posted by hermitosis at 6:34 AM on July 14, 2011
The same author has another book out, Half Broke Horses. I enjoyed it as much, if not more, than the other one. posted by Medieval Maven at 6:50 AM on July 14, 2011
Auntie Mame - the book and the movie - may not be entirely true memoirs, but is /are definitely an all-time favorite for me in how to raise a kid right. posted by Mchelly at 6:57 AM on July 14, 2011
I loved The Glass Castle. It's one of my favorite books. I have heard Half Broke Horses is better. I need to read it.
Seconding A Girl Named Zippy and the follow up book, She Got Up Off the Couch. Both are by Haven Kimmel and are excellent.
If you're looking for memoirs that feature dysfunctional families:
The Liar's Club by Mary Karr
Change Me Into Zeus's Daughter by Barbara Robinette Moss
As far as parenting books go, some standouts are tha authors Adele Faber and Pam Leo. Playful Parenting by Lawrence Cohen, and most books about Attachment Parenting -- Sears, Barbara Nicholson, etc. posted by Fairchild at 7:01 AM on July 14, 2011
Best book ever about first child is Anne Lamott's "Operating Instructions". posted by fivesavagepalms at 7:09 AM on July 14, 2011
Fairchild listed the two I came in here to recommend -- Angela's Ashes and The Liars Club.
If Angela's Ashes doesn't break your heart, you just haven't got one; Frank McCourt's childhood makes Wall's childhood look like a trip to Disneyland. I can't but think of his fathers alcoholism, and how it broke up that family, yet his father was the man who gave McCourt stories ... Life is a big mess, that's all. Don't miss this book.
And The Liars Club is dead-on, she's got East Texas and its people nailed, I've lived in Houston and have worked with blue-collar people from East Texas and Louisiana, I know a little bit about them, enough to clearly recognize them in her writing. Her voice is perfect, it's clear she writes from her heart, she loves her family so, so much yet is puzzled by them. Again, life is a big mess. I give this book to people to try to help them understand East Texas people, how big-hearted they are and how close-minded, too, and also just so they can read a great book.
Cheaper by the Dozen, the book NOT the crappy movie. posted by Ellemeno at 9:37 AM on July 14, 2011
I'm not sure if you'd count my suggestion as a memoir, but it is about family, one man's real family and it is very funny.
Daddy Needs a Drink posted by onhazier at 9:57 AM on July 14, 2011
Cheaper By The Dozen and Belles On Their Toes by Frank Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey. Now that was an interesting family. Might be a little old school for what you're looking for, but filled with crazy goodness! posted by jenfullmoon at 2:44 PM on July 14, 2011
I really, really loved The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio: How My Mother Raised 10 Kids on 25 Words or Less. I wouldn't say it's precisely about parenting per se, but it's an amazing story about how the author's mother, married to an abusive alcoholic husband who forced the family into extreme poverty, kept the family afloat for many years by entering and winning contests for jingles and slogans.
Also, not a book, but you may be interested in the story of Dorian Paskowitz, who imposed upon his nine children an extremely non-traditional and nomadic upbringing. Their (somewhat sad and conflicted) story is documented in the film Surfwise. posted by anderjen at 12:31 PM on July 15, 2011
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A Girl Named Zippy is another good one. The dad's parenting style is alternately quite harsh and very sweet.
I tend to be a re-reader of books, and these two I've read fairly regularly over the years.
posted by mireille at 5:29 AM on July 14, 2011 [3 favorites]