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This title in other editionsAn Open Book: Coming of Age in the Heartlandby Michael Dirda
Synopses & ReviewsPublisher Comments:A funny, wistful memoir by a Pulitzer Prize-winning critic. "All that kid wants to do is stick his nose in a book," Michael Dirda's steelworker father used to complain, worried about his son's passion for reading. In An Open Book, one of the most delightful memoirs to emerge in years, the acclaimed literary journalist Michael Dirda re-creates his boyhood in rust-belt Ohio, first in the working-class town of Lorain, then at Oberlin College. In addition to his colorful family and friends, An Open Book also features the great writers and fictional characters who fueled Dirda's imagination: from Green Lantern to Sherlock Holmes, from Candy to Proust. The result is an affectionate homage to small-town America — summer jobs, school fights, sweepstakes contests, and first dates — as well as a paean to what could arguably be called the last great age of reading. Review:"Dirda is a superb literary essayist." Harold Bloom Review:"The transformation of working-class and immigrant children into gifted professionals is a story often told, for it goes to the heart of the American dream, perhaps of modernity itself. Rarely has it been combined with such a glowing tribute to the world of books and the life of the mind." The Washington Post Review:"[T]his graceful memoir reveals with wry humor and wistful nostalgia a more innocent time in America when books could still have a profound influence in a child's life. Dirda stands shoulder to shoulder with our finest essayists, and his book provides a rich and evocative portrait of the reader as a young man. Essential." Library Journal Review:"An effervescent yet self-effacing tale of a youngster who viewed a library as an all-you-can-eat buffet — and greedily gorged." Kirkus Reviews Review:"[T]his story of intellectual tenacity in middle America rises above its author's sometimes overly precious attempt at self-examination." Publishers Weekly Review:"Michael Dirda's memoir — no surprise to me — is so good that I went up to the attic meaning to send him one of my antique Big Little books as a salute to excellence...A great job. I'll be buying An Open Book for my children and grandchildren." Russell Baker, author of Growing Up Synopsis:This funny, wistful memoir by a Pulitzer Prize-winning critic recalls the charm of growing up and the tenderness of one writer's beginnings. What Our Readers Are SayingBe the first to add a comment for a chance to win!Product Details
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