katarinaliest

Writer Lacy M. Johnson has conducted a series of interviews with her family and is drawing a portraitof her home state Missouri through the years.

This bookfelt a little too removed from mainstream non-fiction than I could enjoy. Thefragmented style in which it is told proved difficult to read and only on thelast few pages did a coherent storyline emerge. Before reading this book I hadbeen eager to learn more about the state of Missouri but after reading it Ifeel none the wiser. The authors writing style has lost touch with the reader andwhile the writer in me can appreciate the creative effort behind this memoir,my reader self is wearing a big question mark on her forehead in addition to adisappointed look.

Whenever Icould make out a little coherence in the narratives I did enjoy learning moreabout the author, about how metropolitan America reacts to people from theSouth-West. Also I enjoyed learning about another writer at work. Those momentswere rare and far between though, most on the last few pages. Sadly that wasall I enjoyed about the book. In my opinion a straight forward memoir wouldhave been the more reader-friendly choice in the case of this book.

The fragmented style makes this book a challenge to read, if you’reup to it go ahead though.