First published in 1967, Stop-Time was immediately recognized as a masterpiece of modern American autobiography, a brilliant portrayal of on...
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Dec 16, 2009
Beth
rated it: 
"Stop-Time" is such a unique book. The writing is so evocative, making even the most mundane details fascinating. I think if I could make a wish and emulate the writing style of any writer, past or present, I very well might choose Frank Conroy. My favorite passage is Conroy's description of how he used books to escape as a teenager:
"I withdrew into myself and let the long months go by, spending my time reading....Night after night I'd lie in bed, with a glass of milk and a More...
"I withdrew into myself and let the long months go by, spending my time reading....Night after night I'd lie in bed, with a glass of milk and a More...
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Aug 27, 2008
Neil
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First I say that I don't much like memoirs and then I decide to read two in a row. I've been trying for a month now to figure out how to describe the very specific emotional state that Stop-Time put me in every time I read a chapter and I guess I'm not going to come up with it.
I first heard about this book when Conroy died, and--as advertised--he's a fantastic writer. I would read a passage and think, "Wow, what incredible writing" and then would go back through it and rea More...
I first heard about this book when Conroy died, and--as advertised--he's a fantastic writer. I would read a passage and think, "Wow, what incredible writing" and then would go back through it and rea More...
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Dec 27, 2008
Kevin
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I like this memoir for its meandering qualities, the lack of plot, and the simplest stories told in a highly detailed style. Even the chapter about how he obsessed over yo-yo tricks was engaging and fun. This is a quiet book about growing up in the 40s and 50s and it doesn't need weighty subplots (child abuse, drugs, etc.) like the memoirs were used to seeing the past couple of decades. Even though it was first published in '67, it still feels fresh.
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Sep 21, 2010
Jenny
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In the memoir Stop-Time, the short story “A Yo-yo Going Down, a Mad Squirrel coming Up” by Frank Conroy particularly intrigued me. Conroy depicts his coming-of-age story with just what the title suggests: yo-yos and squirrels. Conroy is enamored by the yo-yo, and obsessively practices tricks every second he can spare. Meanwhile, his cousin Lucky has his own goal for the summer, which is to see the breasts of a girl he nicknamed, quite adequately, Boobs. Somewhere between practicing and meeting
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Aug 06, 2009
Aaron
rated it:
“In a cheap novel the hero was asked his profession at a cocktail party. ‘I’m a novelist,’ he said, and I remember putting the book down and thinking, my God what a beautiful thing to be able to say.”
Exactly.
I found myself wondering if every great memoir, one which continues being read for decades, becomes a record of a time period as much as pieces of the author’s life. Wagon ruts on rural roads, a “town called Ft. Lauderdale” is nothing more than scrub pine and sand More...
Exactly.
I found myself wondering if every great memoir, one which continues being read for decades, becomes a record of a time period as much as pieces of the author’s life. Wagon ruts on rural roads, a “town called Ft. Lauderdale” is nothing more than scrub pine and sand More...
Sep 20, 2009
Elizabeth
rated it:
Definitely a fun, easy read. Frank Conroy's autobiography reads like a novel..no wait, it reads more like a collection of short stories, each little vignette very well self contained, but more interesting for all the other stories that have gone before it. And he does AMAZING work when describing people. Characters will show up for no more than two or three pages and are never seen again, but in that time he describes the most interesting thing about them in casual detail, and you end up feeling
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Jan 31, 2012
E
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"I could not resist the clarity of the world in books, the incredibly satisfying way in which life became weighty and accessible. Books were reality. I hadn't made up my mind about my own life, a vague, dreamy affair, amorphous and dimly perceived, without beginning or end." - Stop-Time
Sometimes I indulge in daydreams about what my own memoirs might contain and whether or not they would be of interest to strangers. My life has some semi-unique details -- familial connection More...
Sometimes I indulge in daydreams about what my own memoirs might contain and whether or not they would be of interest to strangers. My life has some semi-unique details -- familial connection More...
Jun 14, 2011
James
rated it:
This is a memoir that reads like a novel and undoubtedly contains some fiction scattered among the exhilarating stories of Frank Conroy's youth. Covering the period up to his entrance into Haverford University this memoir creates a world pain and joy and the often awkward encounters of a young boy with real life. I was drawn back into the memoir upon reading a reference to it in David Ulin's wonderful extended essay, The Lost Art of Reading, where Ulin comments on young Conroy's reading habits
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Feb 02, 2008
Rick
rated it:
A strong, stoical memoir, Stop-Time, published in 1967, recounts Conroy’s childhood and adolescence placed inside two narrow contemporary frames: accounts of reckless to the point of suicide/homicide driving from London to the countryside. The prologue and epilogue are both very brief but reveal an adult who should be responsible and perhaps even happy, but clearly is otherwise disturbed. Madness runs, to borrow from “Arsenic and Old Lace,” in Conroy’s family. His dad was in and out of instituti
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Apr 29, 2010
Christopher
rated it:
While this book gets better reviewed by most than "Body and Soul", to me it stands most interesting as a series of footnotes and behind the scenes explanations of that book. The fractured sense of time in the book may have been innovative for its time (not really sure about that, just a thought) but the lack of a central story to this memoir keeps it from being great (to me).
In spite of the 3 star, I would still recommend it as a must read, but if you're going to read one More...
In spite of the 3 star, I would still recommend it as a must read, but if you're going to read one More...
May 16, 2010
Mike
rated it:
Well-crafted, highly influential coming-of-age tale that nonetheless struck me as slightly anticlimactic and faintly stuffy. It was difficult not to make mental comparisons to Frederick Exley's A FAN'S NOTES, which was published only one year later (1968) than STOP-TIME but in its passion and emotional violence feels vastly more vital.
Feb 01, 2011
Keith
rated it:
this is a wonderful memoir. Conroy's recollections are completely free of angst or judgment. these stories of self-discipline, sexual success, beauty, failure and horror are all recorded without the sour interference of hindsight. Conroy has accomplished something truly difficult and seems to challenge us to do the same: to see the past for what it really is.
Dec 17, 2009
Nick
rated it:
I've heard that this adolescent memoir (a genre I enjoy) set the standard for a lot of contemporary writing of its sort. There've been so many books like it in the intervening years that it probably seems less special now than it did when it was first published. I supposed that's the cross one must bear as an exemplar. It remains worthwhile reading; Conroy's f'ed up childhood makes for good fodder, and reminds me of Richard Yates (though Yates is more self-pitying and pathetic, and I like those
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Mar 09, 2011
Gina
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Stop-Time is a memoir by Frank Conroy. It is very sad, occasionally humorous book of a boy growing up in difficult circumstances. It's easy to read and sometimes difficult to read. I just can't figure out why Conroy added the epilogue. That was lost on me.
Aug 10, 2011
Jamie
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It would have been interesting to read this in parallel with A Fan's Notes by Frederick Exley. Beautifully even-handed memoir that never makes the nostalgia saccharine. Conroy does not spare himself when considering his past frailties. Great voice.
Jan 22, 2011
Deb
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Good writing but I couldn't read straight through and skimmed bits. Too much craziness in one life. I'm finding we all have some collection of dysfunction in our lives we could write about. I've lost the stomach for reading about someone else's misery.
Jan 03, 2010
Rachel
rated it:
A beautiful memoir of a boy growing up in the 1950s (from his childhood up until college admittance). I'm not sure why I hadn't heard of this book sooner. I think what I liked most was the casual attention to detail - the effortlessness and beauty of it.
Jun 06, 2009
Erika
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What an excellent book. I loved the way it was written and I loved how the story was told. The only thing that I think should be improved was the organization of the events. I think the movement from past to future was a bit jarring.
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Feb 26, 2011
John
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This book does everything I want realism to do prose-wise. It's also something anyone that's a guy that has grown up or, better, is growing up---aren't we all, always?---probably needs to read for reasons of joyful solace.
Oct 31, 2011
david
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I'm biased because Conroy ends up at my alma mater, but he really puts it together beautifully. This is an honest and achingly compelling account of Conroy's childhood and teen years.
Apr 04, 2011
Featherbooks
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This memoir of a boy growing up in Florida has stayed with me for years. Beautifully written, funny, poignant, all the positive adjectives of a memorable and lasting pleasure of a book.
Jun 17, 2011
martha
rated it:
An odd, interesting little memoir of the author's childhood and adolescence. Not very plotty or scintillating, but he lights up his experiences so that you're completely drawn in. Great writing, and observations about growing up that feel profoundly true, i.e.:
"I could not resist the clarity of the world in books, the incredibly satisfying way in which life became weighty and accessible. Books were reality. I hadn't made up my own mind about my own life, a vague, dreamy affair, More...
"I could not resist the clarity of the world in books, the incredibly satisfying way in which life became weighty and accessible. Books were reality. I hadn't made up my own mind about my own life, a vague, dreamy affair, More...
Apr 26, 2010
David
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I kept trying and trying to let the text take over, but it just wasn't happening. It is well written, but something about it I never found compelling.
Aug 16, 2009
Marvin
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My disappointment in this, along with I Know Why a Caged Bird Sings, two classics of 20th-century memoirs, confirm that memoirs, no matter how good, just don't hold much appeal for me.
Nov 02, 2010
Jordan
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An amazing memoir! I have finished and restarted this book at-least 3 times. I continuously return to it for inspiration and great writing.
Sep 05, 2011
Mary
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Conroy's prose are beautiful. I think I've been reading a lot of authors who lack a distinct voice and I was overwhelmed by the wit and beauty in Conroy. This book tells almost mundane stories in such an accessible way. Nom.
Mar 28, 2009
Em
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A lot of writers I really respect and love LOVE this book. I respect this book. The writing is good.
Apr 10, 2011
Nancy
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This might be the most engrossing and well-written memoir I've ever read. Every word was interesting.
Feb 28, 2011
Greg
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Reread for what must be the third time. The way to write a memoir. Take fairly prosaic memories and with poetic and narrative alchemy turn them into gold. After reading it for pleasure, read it for craft.
Jan 24, 2009
Katherine
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This is one of my favorite books of all time and, in my opinion, the finest memoir ever written.
