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Driving with Dead People: A Memoir

by Monica Holloway

Average based on 2 comments. Synopses & Reviews Read an Excerpt Reading Group Guide Customer Comments (2) ISBN13: 9781416940029 ISBN10: 1416940022 Condition: Standard Dustjacket: Standard All Product Details Only 1 left in stock at $4.50!

 

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

Small wonder that, at nine years old, Monica Holloway develops a fascination with the local funeral home. With a father who drives his Ford pickup with a Kodak movie camera sitting shotgun just in case he sees an accident, and whose home movies feature more footage of disasters than of his children, Monica is primed to become a morbid child.

Yet in spite of her father's bouts of violence and abuse, her mother's selfishness and prim denial, and her siblings' personal battles and betrayals, Monica never succumbs to despair. Instead, she forges her own way, thriving at school and becoming fast friends with Julie Kilner, whose father is the town mortician.

She and Julie prefer the casket showroom, where they take turns lying in their favorite coffins, to the parks and grassy backyards in her hometown of Elk Grove, Ohio. In time, Monica and Julie get a job driving the company hearse to pick up bodies at the airport, yet even Monica's growing independence can't protect her from her parents' irresponsibility, and from the feeling that she simply does not deserve to be safe. Little does she know, as she finally strikes out on her own, that her parents' biggest betrayal has yet to be revealed.

Throughout this remarkable memoir of her dysfunctional, eccentric, and wholly unforgettable family, Monica Holloway's prose shines with humor, clear-eyed grace, and an uncommon sense of resilience. Driving with Dead People is an extraordinary real-life tale with a wonderfully observant and resourceful heroine.

Review:

"Death lurks everywhere in Holloway's childhood. A neighbor boy accidentally shoots and kills a train conductor; a little girl is mowed down by a motorist. Her father's main hobby is filming grisly car wrecks and natural disasters, and her best friend's family runs the town mortuary. Observing the dead in their coffins, Monica wonders: would she be better off in a casket than alive in her parents' home? In this memoir, Holloway (an actress turned writer) tackles the horrifyingly familiar story of father/daughter incest: the secrecy that surrounds it and the ways it corrodes families from the inside out. Even though her memories of the abuse were repressed, evidence cropped up everywhere, from her chronic bed-wetting and compulsive lying as a girl to her adult attraction to abusive men; when her older sister, JoAnn, comes forward with her recollections, Holloway begins to remember her own trauma. As a writer, Holloway might not be in Mary Karr's league, but her blunt sentences deliver the unvarnished truth. In coming to terms with her tragedy, Holloway writes, 'Knowing there is no cavalry is much better than hoping for a cavalry that never comes.' Her memoir sings with the power of a disenfranchised woman finally finding her own voice, and her brutal memoir is hard to forget." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

Review:

"Holloway recounts her childhood fascination with death, which led to a close friendship with the local undertaker's daughter....[She] ingeniously presents her life via the theme of death." Library Journal

Review:

"Amidst a burgeoning number of abuse memoirs, Holloway's shines because of her deft handling of the small details while painstakingly assembling the larger picture." Booklist

Review:

"A meticulously reported account of one girl's journey through a violent and unpredictable childhood. Holloway's strong voice and remarkable sense of humor, in spite of the horror in her past, make this an unforgettable read." Hope Edelman, New York Times bestselling author of Motherless Daughters

Review:

"Memoir, at its best, opens my heart and gives me a view into the core perfection of another. Monica does this in the most essential way, going directly to perfect storytelling laced with irony and humor. She held my heart with her raw, unapologetic honesty, and she flawlessly rendered what it is like to be a child who sees everything, endures it, and still loves with her whole being." Jennifer Lauck, New York Times bestselling author of Blackbird and Still Waters

Synopsis:

In this remarkable memoir, Price recounts scenes and events that are, without question, dreadful for any child; yet her prose shines with humor, clear-eyed grace, and an uncommon sense of resilience. Driving with Dead People is an extraordinary story with a resourceful heroine.

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About the Author

Monica Holloway is an actress turned writer whose essay "Red Boots and Cole Haans" was described by Newsday as "brilliant, grimly hilarious." This is her first full-length book.

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What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating based on 2 comments:

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The Loopy Librarian, July 30, 2011 (view all comments by The Loopy Librarian)
Driving with Dead People is a brutally honest memoir with heart. The author recounts a dreadful childhood without any ounce of self pity. Instead she intertwines happy and humorous memories with the unhappy ones, and the result is good storytelling that ends with hope and possibility.

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Deb Shucka, March 20, 2007 (view all comments by Deb Shucka)
Monica tells her story with humor, grace and unflinching honesty. Don't start the book unless you have time to finish it in a sitting. I could not put it down. This is a woman who is a hero of her own life, as is her sister. Powerful, empowering, amazing!

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Product Details

ISBN:

9781416940029

Subtitle:

A Memoir

Author:

Holloway, Monica

Publisher:

Simon Spotlight Entertainment

Subject:

Literary

Subject:

Interpersonal Relations

Subject:

Problem families

Subject:

Personal Memoirs

Publication Date:

20070306

Binding:

Hardback

Grade Level:

General/trade

Language:

English

Pages:

336

Dimensions:

8.25 x 5.5 in

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Related Subjects

Biography » General
Health and Self-Help » Health and Medicine » Death and Dying
Health and Self-Help » Self-Help » Memoirs

Driving with Dead People: A Memoir Used Hardcover Monica Holloway

0 stars - 0 reviews

$4.50 In Stock

Product details 336 pages Simon Spotlight Entertainment - 2008-11-13 English 9781416940029 Reviews:

"Publishers Weekly Review" by Publishers Weekly, "Death lurks everywhere in Holloway's childhood. A neighbor boy accidentally shoots and kills a train conductor; a little girl is mowed down by a motorist. Her father's main hobby is filming grisly car wrecks and natural disasters, and her best friend's family runs the town mortuary. Observing the dead in their coffins, Monica wonders: would she be better off in a casket than alive in her parents' home? In this memoir, Holloway (an actress turned writer) tackles the horrifyingly familiar story of father/daughter incest: the secrecy that surrounds it and the ways it corrodes families from the inside out. Even though her memories of the abuse were repressed, evidence cropped up everywhere, from her chronic bed-wetting and compulsive lying as a girl to her adult attraction to abusive men; when her older sister, JoAnn, comes forward with her recollections, Holloway begins to remember her own trauma. As a writer, Holloway might not be in Mary Karr's league, but her blunt sentences deliver the unvarnished truth. In coming to terms with her tragedy, Holloway writes, 'Knowing there is no cavalry is much better than hoping for a cavalry that never comes.' Her memoir sings with the power of a disenfranchised woman finally finding her own voice, and her brutal memoir is hard to forget." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

"Review" by Library Journal, "Holloway recounts her childhood fascination with death, which led to a close friendship with the local undertaker's daughter....[She] ingeniously presents her life via the theme of death."

"Review" by Booklist, "Amidst a burgeoning number of abuse memoirs, Holloway's shines because of her deft handling of the small details while painstakingly assembling the larger picture."

"Review" by Hope Edelman, New York Times bestselling author of Motherless Daughters, "A meticulously reported account of one girl's journey through a violent and unpredictable childhood. Holloway's strong voice and remarkable sense of humor, in spite of the horror in her past, make this an unforgettable read."

"Review" by Jennifer Lauck, New York Times bestselling author of Blackbird and Still Waters, "Memoir, at its best, opens my heart and gives me a view into the core perfection of another. Monica does this in the most essential way, going directly to perfect storytelling laced with irony and humor. She held my heart with her raw, unapologetic honesty, and she flawlessly rendered what it is like to be a child who sees everything, endures it, and still loves with her whole being."

"Synopsis" by Ingram, In this remarkable memoir, Price recounts scenes and events that are, without question, dreadful for any child; yet her prose shines with humor, clear-eyed grace, and an uncommon sense of resilience. Driving with Dead People is an extraordinary story with a resourceful heroine.