The End of the World as We Know It by Robert Goolrick

Here, too, are cocktail parties that would have inspired Douglas Sirk: Goolrick describes the lavish fetes his parents threw, the lovely chiffon dresses his mother wore. The deformed weirdos, a staple of Southern grotesque, are here, including severely retarded aunt Dodo, who one day asked young Robert to kiss her passionately. He recounts a Virginia childhood worthy of William Styron and Flannery OConnor. A simple summary of the storyline of this memoir might inspire an eye-roll: Do we really need another tale about someone growing up in a South of days-gone-by, surrounded by eccentric relatives and neighbors, with a little alcoholism and incest thrown in for good measure? But Goolrick takes that tired scenario and makes it magical. Morbidly funny.-Entertainment Weekly A devastating debut memoir about a Southern childhood. Publishers Weekly unnerving, elegantly crafted memoir. Review Quotes A moving, unflinchingly rendered story of how the past can haunt a life. As author Lee Smith, who knew this world and this family, observed, Alcohol may be the real villain in this pain-permeated, exquisitely written memoir of childhood-but it is also filled with absolutely dead-on social commentary of this very particular time and place. Beautifully written, often humorous, sometimes sweet, ultimately shocking, this is a sons story of looking back with both love and anger at the parents who gave him life and then robbed him of it, who created his world and then destroyed it. It is through the eyes of that boy-a grown man now, revisiting that time-that we see this seemingly serene world and watch as it slowly comes completely and irrevocably undone. But behind the facade this family had created lurked secrets so dark, so painful for this one little boy, that his life would never be the same. Lineage, tradition, making the right impression-these were matters of great importance, especially to the mother. To all appearances, their life seemed ideal. They gave parties, hosted picnics, went to church-just like their neighbors. They lived on a sunny street in a small college town nestled neatly in a leafy valley. They were parents to three bright, smiling children: two boys and a girl. The father was a respected professor, the mother a witty and elegant lady, someone everyone loved. To all appearances, he and his family lived an almost idyllic life. For one little boy, however, life had be anything but normal.

A few years before, a noble war had been won, and now life had returned to normal. Book Synopsis It was the 1950s, a time of calm, a time when all things were new and everything seemed possible. With devastating honesty and razor-sharp wit, he looks back with love, and with anger, at the parents who both created his world and destroyed it. About the Book In the tradition of Rick Braggs All Over but the Shoutin, Goolrick has crafted a classic memoir of childhood and the secrets a heart cant forget.

The End of the World as We Know It by Robert Goolrick