Memoirs

Exploring the rain forests, going to battle, living in France – I’m unlikely to do any of those things in my lifetime.

But that’s exactly why I enjoy reading about them. It’s the foreignness of some books’ subject matter that makes them intriguing, something that is completely different from my life experience or culture or opinion of cheese.

(Pro, in case you were wondering.)

When I read the book jacket for The Film Club by David Gilmore I realized I’d never find another book so outside my personal experiences.

David Gilmore is a Canadian author who, when his teenage son began struggling in school, made the craziest decision.

He decided to home-school his son.

But not with books or notes or field trips.

With movies.

Gilmore required his son Jesse to watch three movies a week with him.

There were no movie quizzes or tests, no pre- or post-watching studying, just an optional bucket of popcorn and a movie Gilmore thought would teach his son something about life.

Though I started reading out of prurient interest, I continued reading because of the deftly beautiful way Gilmore interweaves details of his son’s life and their relationship with film history.

Jesse did go to college and become successful, so maybe it’s I who took the crazy path, what with that whole four years of high school.

I looked up the meaning of prurient

And I’m definitely mis-using it above,

Megan

The Film Club or How Every Family’s Different (Some More Than Others)

Tagged as: Book reviews by someone who doesn't know what they're talking about

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What do growing up in a rough Puerto Rican neighborhood, buying a wedding dress and working for a Jewish newspaper have in common?

They’re all subjects of essays in Susan Jane Gilman’s Hypocrite in a Pouffy White Dress.

(Sarah Jane Gilman bears no resemblance to Sara Jane Moore, the woman who attempted to kill President Ford.)

(I can’t help but think of one when hearing of the other.)

(Which makes this probably the only book review Susan Jane Gilman has ever received comparing her to an assassin.)

But in Hypocrite in a Pouffy White Dress: Tales of Growing Up Groovy and Clueless, Gilman takes a sharp wit while describing her childhood, parents’ divorce, and the various religious influences she encountered while growing up.

I’m a sucker for a funny essayist, and Gilman doesn’t disappoint.

Now I just need her other books to show up at my local used book promised land.

You can tell if the author is an Essayist if there’s a quote on the cover comparing him/her to David Sedaris,

Megan

p.s.~ Have you heard how much I love David Hyde Pierce?

p.p.s.~ It’s a lot.

I Almost Grew Up Groovy and Clueless But Was Too Distracted Watching Saved by the Bell

Tagged as: Book reviews by someone who doesn't know what they're talking about

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