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2 teosta 134 jäsentä 26 arvostelua

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Dana Jennings is an editor for the New York Times.

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male

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I really wanted to like this book and some of it is very moving and some of it is a good introduction to basic facts about country music, but mostly I think Jennings had a chance to write a unique first person testament to working class poor people and the way our society doesn't "see" them and blew it. I guess he told me one time too many how poor, hungry and mean his people were instead of showing me through their stories.
 
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nmele | 3 muuta kirja-arvostelua | Apr 6, 2013 |
All this time I've thought I was a swamp Yankee. After all, my parents grew up fairly poor, with no electricity until after World War II; I visited and even lived in houses with outhouses as recently as 1966; and my parents certainly listened to country music. Well, compared to Dana Jennings' folks, mine were upper middle class!
Jennings was born in 1957 to a shotgun marriage of two eighth-grade graduates, both of whom came from pretty dysfunctional families. Violence, alcoholism, depression, and multiple partners legal and otherwise, were the norm -- as was hard, ill-paid work. And, this all took place in southern New Hampshire. Somehow I can't see would-be Presidential candidates spending much time with Jennings' kin, although maybe they should have.
The one thing that helps his people get through their lives, and doesn't harm them in the process, is country music. Woven through Jennings' memoir of his hardscrabble childhood are the songs of Hank Williams, Patsy Cline, Faron Young, Hank Snow, Johnny Cash, and many more. This book is as much an appreciation of country music as it is a memoir. Therein lies its biggest fault as a book -- Jennings never quite decides which he wants it to be. The memoir portion leaves the reader unsatisfied, with many questions -- how did a boy, however bright, from this background make it out to become a New York Times editor? What became of his siblings? What was the outcome of the apparent cancer that struck him at 12 years old? Perhaps he will write a sequel.
Jennings writes in an odd combination of Yankee dialect, lyrical descriptions of nature, journalistic singer-songwriter bios, and crude language describing rough lives. Somehow it all works, and though this book had its imperfections, I had a hard time putting it down.
… (lisätietoja)
 
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auntieknickers | 3 muuta kirja-arvostelua | Apr 3, 2013 |
Tämä arvostelu kirjoitettiin LibraryThingin Varhaisia arvostelijoita varten.
I loved the little peeks into Bijou's life with his human family. The author's style reminded me of Robert Fulghum. I really enjoyed the book and though it didn't really pull at me emotionally as much as Marley & Me I will still be keeping the book. I love these kind of feel good dog family books. :)
½
 
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paolasp | 21 muuta kirja-arvostelua | May 5, 2011 |
This story made me laugh. I always felt the power of healing by our canine family members. The experiences he went through I could see our pugs doing the same thing especially with the cereal. They give me comfort when I need it and make me laugh all the time. Only a pet owner can understand the power our pets hold. Great funny story.
 
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bratlaw | 21 muuta kirja-arvostelua | Apr 3, 2011 |

Tilastot

Teokset
2
Jäseniä
134
Suosituimmuussija
#151,727
Arvio (tähdet)
½ 3.6
Kirja-arvosteluja
26
ISBN:t
8

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