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myoungfina's review
5.0
McCarthy remembers and then fact checks. This memoir changed how I thought about memory and rememory. The idea that one can clearly recall something that is potentially not true at all is both terrifying and fascinating. McCarthy pushed me to consider the boundaries of memory and to accept that we do not always know the "truth" behind a memory.
lindseyzank's review
4.0
The title does not do justice to this charming autobiography about an atheist who grew up as a Catholic in a variety of households. I was simply laughing at multiple moments in this text.
yasy_yasy16's review
funny
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
4.5
Really enamored with the writing style. Funny but still heartfelt and sweet. This book makes me want to read more of Mary McCarthy’s work.
jeanetterenee's review against another edition
dark
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.0
Better to deposit the children in a Catholic household where they are severely abused and neglected than to let the Protestants get their hands on them. That was the philosophy of Mary McCarthy's grandparents after both her parents died, one day apart, in the 1918 influenza pandemic. Fortunately, when she was eleven years old she was shipped off to her Protestant grandparents in Seattle. While they weren't exactly warm and loving, they were kind and generous and never abusive.
A childhood like this would be enough to make anyone lose their faith, which Mary did at a fairly young age. She never regained it. She writes:
"I do not mind if I lose my soul for all eternity. If the kind of God exists Who would damn me for not working out a deal with Him, then that is unfortunate. I should not care to spend eternity in the company of such a person."
My sentiments exactly.
A childhood like this would be enough to make anyone lose their faith, which Mary did at a fairly young age. She never regained it. She writes:
"I do not mind if I lose my soul for all eternity. If the kind of God exists Who would damn me for not working out a deal with Him, then that is unfortunate. I should not care to spend eternity in the company of such a person."
My sentiments exactly.
snowlilly's review
informative
sad
slow-paced
1.0
the narrative wasn't logical. after each chapter the author in italicized font would review what you had just read for authenticity. (?!) are these how memoirs are written now a days?
yangyvonne's review
4.0
The autobiographical tale of a girl's (tragic) upbringing among various family members when she and her brothers lose their parents. A chapter "to the reader" is followed by eight lengthy chapters detailing Mary's youth. We learn of the cruel aunt and uncle in MN and the cold but seemingly loving maternal grandparents who which Mary away to the Pacific NW before too long.
Written in 1957, the story holds-up through time and the "characters" ring true to life. Mary, although from a privileged background, had an almost Dickensian childhood when orphaned and the pages detail her experience with agonizing detail.
Written in 1957, the story holds-up through time and the "characters" ring true to life. Mary, although from a privileged background, had an almost Dickensian childhood when orphaned and the pages detail her experience with agonizing detail.