Scan barcode
A review by dannafs
My Father, the Pornographer by Chris Offutt
3.0
My Father, the Pornographer read part memoir, part biography as Chris Offutt examines his father's life and the impact it had on his own. The book reads almost like short stories as Offutt moves from one memory or observation to another, with no clear chronology. Most of the chapters are short; bite-sized pieces serve as glimpses of Andy or Chris Offutt.
I expected the book to be funnier. The title begs wit, which this book has, but no crisp hilarity. There are no laugh-out-loud moments. In fact, much of the book is sad, bordering on heavy. Chris admires, fears, and loathes his father throughout the course of his lifetime, and is resigned and appalled at how similar he has grown to be.
Andrew J. Offutt is a remarkable man to read about. He was an extraordinarily prolific author, with some 1800 pounds of writing to sort through upon his death. The bulk of the writing was porn, but he was also a notorious sci-fi author, and dabbled in fantasy and comics. Learning about his tactics for speed-writing was incredible--he could write a full novel in three days. His personality, odd in the way of extreme genius, was equally intriguing. From his dedicated attendance to sci-fi "cons" (conventions), to his fierce commitment to his marriage, to his volatile moods and arrogance, and his myriad pseudonyms with attendant personalities, Andy was certainly a character.
As Chris learns more about his father's life, he learns more about himself and his reactions to the world. His dealing with his father's inheritance--the thousands of pages of written letters, stories, comics--is everything from bureaucratic to emotional to debilitating. The fact that he finished the reading, sorting, and reviewing required to put together this short tome is a feat in itself.
It's good, not great. Short, interesting. Worth a read for sure, but nothing to rush out and wait for.
Favorite quotes:
I so identify with Chris's voracious appetite for literature as a young boy, as well as the lack of censor enforced by adults in his life for what he did read:
"I was reading over my head but didn't know it because no one told me so. I didn't discriminate or evaluate... As I gained information about the world, I realized I'd never be able to read everything and would eventually be compelled to pick and choose. Until then, I merely absorbed narrative and idea, finishing Shakespeare and picking up Heinlein, dipping into Machiavelli and then Tolkien. I was like a blind man trying to stay warm in winter, grabbing the nearest piece of wood, unable to discern hardwood or soft, concerned only with maintaining the hot steady fire that consumed everything in reach."
Wondering why we never hear this argument amongst all the hullabaloo around birth control and the Catholic Church:
"The letter was a reply to a recent article by Monsignor Kelly of New York, who'd denounced the widespread use of birth control pills.
"Dad began his letter by referring to himself as a fertile Catholic with three unplanned children, proving the ineffectiveness of the rhythm method. He quotes the monsignor's statement that 'The sex organs were made by God to reproduce the human race.' Dad responds:
"It follows that not using the sex organs to reproduce the race is a man-made sin. It therefore follows that Msgr Kelly is guilt of a great and deliberate sin; he is not using his."
I expected the book to be funnier. The title begs wit, which this book has, but no crisp hilarity. There are no laugh-out-loud moments. In fact, much of the book is sad, bordering on heavy. Chris admires, fears, and loathes his father throughout the course of his lifetime, and is resigned and appalled at how similar he has grown to be.
Andrew J. Offutt is a remarkable man to read about. He was an extraordinarily prolific author, with some 1800 pounds of writing to sort through upon his death. The bulk of the writing was porn, but he was also a notorious sci-fi author, and dabbled in fantasy and comics. Learning about his tactics for speed-writing was incredible--he could write a full novel in three days. His personality, odd in the way of extreme genius, was equally intriguing. From his dedicated attendance to sci-fi "cons" (conventions), to his fierce commitment to his marriage, to his volatile moods and arrogance, and his myriad pseudonyms with attendant personalities, Andy was certainly a character.
As Chris learns more about his father's life, he learns more about himself and his reactions to the world. His dealing with his father's inheritance--the thousands of pages of written letters, stories, comics--is everything from bureaucratic to emotional to debilitating. The fact that he finished the reading, sorting, and reviewing required to put together this short tome is a feat in itself.
It's good, not great. Short, interesting. Worth a read for sure, but nothing to rush out and wait for.
Favorite quotes:
I so identify with Chris's voracious appetite for literature as a young boy, as well as the lack of censor enforced by adults in his life for what he did read:
"I was reading over my head but didn't know it because no one told me so. I didn't discriminate or evaluate... As I gained information about the world, I realized I'd never be able to read everything and would eventually be compelled to pick and choose. Until then, I merely absorbed narrative and idea, finishing Shakespeare and picking up Heinlein, dipping into Machiavelli and then Tolkien. I was like a blind man trying to stay warm in winter, grabbing the nearest piece of wood, unable to discern hardwood or soft, concerned only with maintaining the hot steady fire that consumed everything in reach."
Wondering why we never hear this argument amongst all the hullabaloo around birth control and the Catholic Church:
"The letter was a reply to a recent article by Monsignor Kelly of New York, who'd denounced the widespread use of birth control pills.
"Dad began his letter by referring to himself as a fertile Catholic with three unplanned children, proving the ineffectiveness of the rhythm method. He quotes the monsignor's statement that 'The sex organs were made by God to reproduce the human race.' Dad responds:
"It follows that not using the sex organs to reproduce the race is a man-made sin. It therefore follows that Msgr Kelly is guilt of a great and deliberate sin; he is not using his."