This is one of those memoirs that tells the author's life story in short memories, one after another. Usually, I am not a fan of such memoirs. One reason being I see them as a too easy way of writing, even a lazy way of writing. Another reason is because they are often "free association" type books, which I often find irritating. The bottom line is, though, did the memoir successfully paint a good portrait of the author's life? Yes, this one did. Moreover, it's not really "free association", but narration broken up into smaller pieces. Since Edward Hirsch is a poet, one can expect a freer type of narration.

What do we learn about the author's life? We learn all about his childhood up until he leaves for college. His feelings about the day he left were moving. Short but still moving. He was moving on with his life past all the days and nights in a Jewish family in Chicago, where he was very close to his sister Lenie. Born in 1950, Mr. Hirsch grew up in two of the most exciting decades and had all sorts of stories to tell about those years. Some stories were funny, but I am not sure I fully understand his subtitle "A Stand-Up Comedy". Besides his parents and two sisters, there were lots of extended relatives, friends and neighbors, too, which sometimes got confusing who was who. Not too confusing, mind you, but still confusing enough that I wasn't sure at all times who he was talking about.

Whenever I read a book about a poet, I go online and search for some of their poetry. Much of the time I don't like the poems I read. For example, Sylvia Plath's life was interesting and I have read quite a bit about her, but I can't stand her poetry. Edward Hirsch was fortunately no Sylvia Plath. I liked the poems I read and even understood most of them. Also, reading Mr. Hirsch's memoir and poems has made me think I need to write more poetry. Or maybe I'll start a memoir that consists of one short memory after another . . . .