Synopses & Reviews
Gentile reader, and you, Jews, come too. Follow Sue William Silverman, a one-woman cultural mash-up, on her exploration of identity among the mishmash of American idols and ideals that confuse most of us—or should. Pat Boone is our first stop. Now a Tea Party darling, Boone once shone as a squeaky-clean pop music icon of normality, an antidote for Silverman’s own confusing and dangerous home, where being a Jew in a Christian school wasn’t easy, and being the daughter of the Anti-Boone was unspeakable. And yet somehow Silverman found her way, a “gefilte fish swimming upstream,” and found her voice, which in this searching, bracing, hilarious, and moving book tries to make sense of that most troubling American condition: belonging, but to what?
Picking apricots on a kibbutz, tramping cross-country in a loathed Volkswagen camper, appearing in a made-for-television version of her own life: Silverman is a bobby-soxer, a baby boomer, a hippy, a lefty, and a rebel with something to say to those of us—most of us—still wondering what to make of ourselves.
Review
“Silverman’s language is, by turns, blunt, wrenching, sophisticated, lyrical, tender, hilarious. She writes with wicked dark humor, splendid intelligence, wry wit, and honest confrontation. There’s no other book quite like it.”—Lee Martin, author of From Our House
Review
“Reading The Pat Boone Fan Club feels like sitting down for coffee with a long-lost friend. Silverman reveals the heights that skillful and innovative memoir can achieve.”—Hope Edelman, author of Motherless Daughters Lee Martin
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“Filled with warmhearted humor and profound compassion, this tour de force exploration of the search for identity is a joy to behold.”—Kaylie Jones, author of Lies My Mother Never Told Me
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“Silverman is the Tennessee Williams of memoir.”—Robert Vivian, author of The Least Cricket of Evening
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"A masterly stylist continues her uncompromising examination of the inner life."—Kirkus Reviews
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"This book makes you think as you laugh out loud. . . . Take my advice and take some time to connect with your inner WASP-Jew."—Teri Cross Chetwood's Blog
Review
“Although many of the topics and themes in these essays are somber and sincere, Silverman’s ever-present humor sets a self-deprecating tone. . . . Readers will relate to these stories, for while they’re directly about this writer’s spiritual journey, they’re also about the universal feeling that one doesn’t quite belong, and the fact that Silverman has survived, recovered, and discovered her true self gives hope to the rest of us.” —newpages.com
Review
"Silverman's writing is very alive. As a reader you feel immersed in her world, not just seeing it but feeling, tasting and smelling it. She weaves ribbons from moments in her childhood to odd obsessions and reactions she experiences in later life. It's an eye-opening tale that will have you re-examining your own life."—New Book Review
Review
"The Pat Boone Fan Club is a rollicking road-trip of a book. It's a trip worth taking, again and again."—Kelly O'Toole, Blue Lyra Review
Review
“Silverman’s writing is very alive. As a reader you feel immersed in her world, not just seeing it but feeling, tasting and smelling it.”—The New Book Review
About the Author
Sue William Silvermans memoir,
Love Sick: One Womans Journey through Sexual Addiction, is also a Lifetime television movie. Her memoir,
Because I Remember Terror, Father, I Remember You, won the Association of Writers and Writing Programs Award for Creative Nonfiction. She is also the author of
Fearless Confessions: A Writers Guide to Memoir, teaches at Vermont College of Fine Arts, and is a professional speaker (suewilliamsilverman.com).