Reviews

My Father, the Pornographer: A Memoir by Chris Offutt

vnesting's review against another edition

5.0

How does your understanding of your father change when you learn that he wrote more than 400 books in his lifetime -- most of them pornography? Upon his father's death, Chris Offutt (author of the critically acclaimed short story collection, Kentucky Straight) is left to sort through his father's office, which is filled with books, manuscripts, correspondence, comics, graphic novels, etc. Offutt's memoir is spare and incisive -- and occasionally heartbreaking -- as he seeks to understand his father's life and his own memories of growing up.

chadleyc's review against another edition

4.0

At times fascinating, at times disturbing, at times overwrought. A man works out his relationship with his father by understanding his father's life as a writer of pornography.

abookishtype's review against another edition

3.0

There is another truth universally acknowledged: one is always embarrassed by one’s parents at some point. Usually, the embarrassment springs from changes in culture, fashion, technology, and ideas. That’s usually the extent of it. Chris Offutt’s father embarrasses his family by writing more than 100 pornographic novels over decades. Embarrassment, however, is not the first emotion Offutt experiences when thinking of his father. Offutt the Elder, as revealed in the Younger’s memoir, My Father, the Pornographer, inspires terror in his children. In the two years following Offutt the Elder’s death, Chris goes through his father’s manuscripts, letters, and books in an attempt to understand an angry, narcissistic, prolific writer and parent...

Read the rest of my review at A Bookish Type. I received a free copy of this ebook from Edelweiss, in exchange for an honest review.

lesliedotcom's review against another edition

1.0

I'd heard an interview with the author on Fresh Air and thought the book sounded good-- I was sorely disappointed.

chickflix's review against another edition

3.0

A memoir about a son's strained relationship with his alcoholic asshole of a father who also happens to be a prolific author of pornographic books. Most of this book is not actually about pornography. It's a pretty standard memoir which didn't blow me away.

erynecki's review against another edition

5.0

Okay, so the title is definitely an attention grabber and I want to be clear that the book is about so much more. Offutt writes of growing up in the Kentucky hills, of his relationship with his father, and what it means to be an author (and the son of a prolific author). I loved the first half of this book. That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy the second half, but some of the content was tough for me. The prose is brave and beautiful and stares straight into the face of some dark and haunting material.

jessyhere's review against another edition

3.0

I listened to the audiobook of this, and I think I would have appreciated it more if I had read it. It was very dry, which tends to make me zone out when listening. It was an interesting account, and I was mildly entertained, but I doubt that much of this will stay with me.