An intimate raw real look at his parents at their marriage their lives and place in American society.As usual his writing is beautiful immediately drew me in to his and his parents lives.A bookI will be recommending.#netgalley #scribdbooks

Yet another incredible piece of writing from Richard Russo. This is an essay ostensibly about the failure of his parents' marriage, but he also teases out the themes to make a grander point about the division that exists between red and blue America.

The empathy he shows toward his parents and himself is amazing. Rather than just accepting the stories he was told when he was young, Russo really explores his past and takes a sophisticated look at his parents' marriage in all its complexity. His ability to see things from multi-perspectives is truly unique.

I loved it.

Wanted to love this book, just didn't. Sorry about that because I've loved others.

Thanks to author, publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book. While I got the book for free, it had no bearing on the rating I gave it.

I love everything Richard Russo has written. I first learned about him when looking for a birthday present for a friend. I saw Empire Falls in paperback in a Boston Barnes and Noble and it looked so good, I bought two copies - one for him and one for me. I believe it had recently won the Pulitzer Prize. I found it unputdownable. I went back and started reading his entire back catalog and love it all. I got this biographical essay an an eARC from NetGalley and very much enjoyed it. It retread a lot of the same ground as in Elsewhere, the author’s memoir, but that doesn’t mean it was not enjoyable. My wife says that all of his books are basically the same, and I guess that might be true from a certain point of view, but I could read his stuff forever.

A beautifully written albeit bite sized account of his parents and how they appears to him both as a child and nor looking back as an adult.

Anything by Richard Russo is a blessing as you can be sure it will be impeccably and stylishly planned and written.

This is no exception and the lush prose draws you into this intimate and deeply sympathetic description of the foibles and weaknesses of both his parents and how they affected him.

A veritable treat.