Memoir Short Takes: Jeanne Darst's "Perfectly Balanced" Fiction Ruined My Family

A summer hiatus spent studying Victorian fiction has made it a little tougher to get back into the memoir swing of things, but a few of these titles reminded me why this is such a sweet gig. I want to hang out with Jeanne Darst and Peter Smith and tell the world about what an incredible survivor Jaycee Dugard is. Get to know these authors through their books and, most of all, have fun!

Darst, Jeanne. Fiction Ruined My Family. Riverhead: Penguin Group (USA). 2011. 336p. ISBN 9781594488146. $25.95 MEMOIR
Her mother had a marvelous, wealthy, nationally-ranked-child-equestrian kind of childhood. Her father's Great American Novel was always just around the corner. The family listing in the Social Register implied stability and permanence. Darst, the youngest of four St. Louis daughters, witnesses her mother's growing alcoholism as her father chased his writing dream. Longings for lost grandeur drives her mother into nightly dramatics, while no one acknowledges the A word. When Darst realizes she was an amalgamation of both parents-a writer and an alcoholic-she wonders if it's possible to be a good writer without suffering.
What I'm Telling My Friends Perfectly balanced in tone, this is one of the few truly funny memoirs that can also talk about the love, frustration, and deep despair that only relatives can bring out. With highly quotable moments; a keeper. [Darst's memoir was featured in Barbara Hoffert's ALA Galley and Signing Guide 2011.—Ed.]

Duff, Gerald. Home Truths: A Deep East Texas Memory. TCU Pr. 2011. 160p. ISBN 9780875654355. pap. $21.95. MEMOIR
Navigating the varied social structures of two different areas through his Texas childhood, Duff (Indian Giver) quickly learned that lies were his best protection. While juggling his eccentric extended family and creating a persona that would better fit in with them, Duff became a natural at molding fictions. Abandoning the usual course of oil-engineering study for literature and writing, he left Texas behind to pursue a career in academia and start a family, though rife with its own share of tribulations. Duff's account of a life led against the grain in East Texas is keenly thematic, peppered with insightful accounts of the seemingly ordinary.
What I'm Telling My Friends Ably composed and strong on locale, this is good for buffs of regional and/or generational stories. Coming-of-age in World War II-era Texas with a big nutjob family, Duff tells a wry, astute story that offers a perceptive commentary on the time and place.

Dugard, Jaycee. A Stolen Life: A Memoir. S. & S. 2011. 273p. ISBN 9781451629187. $24.99. MEMOIR
In 1991, Dugard was tased and kidnapped on her way to school at the age of 11. For the next 18 years, she was held captive by her abductors, Phillip Garrido and his wife, Nancy, in outbuildings in a secret backyard on their property. Though Phillip was on parole and frequently visited by law enforcement, the outbuildings were never investigated. Jaycee's tormented life as a prisoner included giving birth to two girls, with whom she was made to live as an older sister. After her discovery and reunion with her family in 2009, Jaycee's story made national headlines.
What I'm Telling My Friends Knowing some of the story ahead of time, I resisted this memoir, feeling like a tabloid voyeur. Readers shouldn't demure, however: her voice, often taken in via journal entries written during her captivity, is incredible-the woman has strength and unflappable spirit that are to be admired in any light. [Dugard's memoir was featured in Barbara Hoffert's ALA Galley and Signing Guide 2011.—Ed.]

Rodríguez, Luis J. It Calls You Back: An Odyssey Through Love, Addictions, Revolution, and Healing. Touchstone: S. & S. Oct. 2011. 336p. ISBN 9781416584162. $24.99. MEMOIR
A follow-up to his best-selling memoir Always Running, Rodríguez chronicles his battles in arenas personal, political, and professional. Committed to avoiding his former gang lifestyle and to practice activism and writing, he takes readers through his marriages, relationships, children, jobs, education, and extensive travel. Rodríguez founded a poetry press, Tia Chucha, and expanded it as Tia Chucha's Centro Cultural and Bookstore. Alternating in focus, he speaks of his relationships and drive for meaningful action. The darkest moments are the most ironic: no matter how victorious his poetic battles and successful gang interventions, Rodríguez has to face his son's participation in gang culture.
What I'm Telling My Friends A choppy read at times, this is worth navigating for the immense breadth of Rodríguez's experiences.

Schultz, Philip. My Dyslexia. Norton. 2011. 128p. ISBN 9780393079647. $21.95. MEMOIR
Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Schultz (Failure) realized he was dyslexic at the age of 58 after his oldest son was diagnosed. As his life's struggles began to make sense, he recorded his thoughts. He recalls his journey from abandoned student, relegated to "the dummy class" and unable to read until the age of 11, to prize-winning poet with a dyslexic son of his own. The beauty of this book is the depth of insight into the workings of a dyslexic mind, before he's able to name his condition. His creative approaches to problem solving, his anxiety, and his determination and observational skills needed to survive and wrestle the written word into submission are carefully detailed.
What I'm Telling My Friends It's heartbreaking to know of the teachers who gave up on Schultz but lovely to hear of his success and outreach, especially regarding anti-bullying. A quick read and a fascinating tour of how someone else's mind works.

Smith, Peter. A Cavalcade of Lesser Horrors. Univ. of Minnesota Pr. 2011. 200p. ISBN 9780816675579. pap. $17.95. MEMOIR
Smith, weekly contributor to Minnesota Public Radio's Morning Edition, recounts a life of missteps and awkwardness. In a Catholic brood of nine growing up in Chicago, he found every day filled with potential disaster. Smith describes his father's approach to home and auto repair with a fascinating combination of despair and glee-dirty bolts will never again look the same. Readers follow Smith through his misadventures in college and Vietnam (even his Dear John letter is painfully humorous) and into his life as an advertising writer. Each essay stands alone but discovering the next episode, the next layer in this voice, is delightful.
What I'm Telling My Friends First: damn good title! Second: this man is a gifted storyteller-it's that simple. Last: he's witty and self-deprecating without being simpering; he's conscious of the struggle to be a good person in the midst of messing up.

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