A spellbinding and authentic document of American adolescence.
Set against the backdrop of the deep South in the 1970s, "Miss American Pie" is ... read full description
Set against the backdrop of the deep South in the 1970s, "Miss American Pie" is ... read full description
reviews
Jul 26, 2007
Lena
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Sartor’s memoir is composed of actual entries from the diaries she kept between the ages of twelve and seventeen. On the surface, this glimpse into the psyche of a struggling teenager is at times funny and heartbreaking. But it is also a fabulous book for meditators. I walked away from it with a profound understanding of not only the universality of human experience (or at least, the teenage American female human experience) but also a visceral understanding of the highly transient nature of ou
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Nov 05, 2007
Kristin
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It's a good idea - republishing journal entries from those painful teenage years - except the journals had nothing in them. Most entries were just one line. I didn't get a sense of the author at that time, except she was insufferable.
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Feb 01, 2008
Janssen
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It's just so wonderful to see the combination of major events with little personal ones. One entry read "President Nixon resigned; made an appointment to get my hair cut." I've already returned the book to the library, so I can't quote much more than that, but there were hundreds of entries that I just adored. Dozens of them had me nodding to myself and thinking "I know exactly what she means" and "I thought I was the only one who'd ever thought that." I was astound
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Dec 05, 2007
Grace
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There are few things I can think of that are more self indulgent than publishing your diary from 7th through 12th grades. Seriously. I mean, who wants to read that? Well, apparently, me. This book is Margaret Sartor's unadulterated (I think) diary from those years of her life, in the 1970s, in Louisiana. While interesting things may have been happening in her state and in the country, most of them were not happening to her. Mostly, her entries are about her friends, with whom she's never close e
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Nov 23, 2007
Joe
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I suppose in this "reality" obsessed culture we now live in anybody can get their diary published and have it lauded as an important piece of modern literature or a work of brilliance or any of the myriad cliched accolades critics vomit up.
Well I don't get it. Miss American Pie is a dull, dull, dull read. The forward is promising and I thought Sartor's teenage musings would be profound or intriguing or at the least interesting but it's not. Sartor is a spoiled rich kid who More...
Well I don't get it. Miss American Pie is a dull, dull, dull read. The forward is promising and I thought Sartor's teenage musings would be profound or intriguing or at the least interesting but it's not. Sartor is a spoiled rich kid who More...
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Nov 13, 2008
Sarah
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Achingly familiar chronicle of adolescent angst. Refreshingly, this is not put out by a celebrity or established author but rather a common southern gal. Because the diary entries are unedited they run the gamut from the mundane observation (Sometimes I hum when I pee.) to more serious issues (suicide, homosexuality, divorce.) Sartor does offer a preface to orient the reader as well as a heartfelt epilogue with updates on the "cast of characters" depicted in her diary entries. The earl
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May 30, 2011
David
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Other than a brief intro chapter and an epilogue, it's all diary entries from the author's high school years in the 1970's in Louisiana. To some extent I probably enjoyed it by virtue of our being nearly the same age (hey, I remember the day Elvis died, when Nixon resigned, when Carter was elected.......; and I recognized every song she alludes to in the diaries), but beyond that there was something compelling about her painfully self-conscious accounts of the daily ups and downs of adolescence
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Apr 05, 2009
Jill
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I'm kind of surprised that this book got a book contract, to be honest.
I would have enjoyed this more had it been written as a memoir. The raw text (if that's what it was) of this teenager's diary just didn't hold me--especially since early on many of the entries were only a sentence or two. I appreciated the foreword and afterword which gave more context, but the afterword in particular was a turnoff, since it really underscored the self-centeredness of the author, who seemed more c More...
I would have enjoyed this more had it been written as a memoir. The raw text (if that's what it was) of this teenager's diary just didn't hold me--especially since early on many of the entries were only a sentence or two. I appreciated the foreword and afterword which gave more context, but the afterword in particular was a turnoff, since it really underscored the self-centeredness of the author, who seemed more c More...
Feb 22, 2009
Andrea
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At first, I thought this memoir - this glimpse into another woman's teenage years via her diary was pointless. It didn't flow, there was no plot, nothing made her life particularly special. But it ended up pulling me in. And the story line was the story of growing up and all the confusion, pain, emotions that entails. I could relate to this girl although we grew up a decade apart, but at the same time couldn't as she was so much more self-assured and confident (even if her inner more confess
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Mar 02, 2009
Annette
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Loved the idea of this book because it is excerpts from the diary of a woman written between the ages of 12 and 18 and she is exactly my age - growing up the 1970s. Not much wordly or political revelations, but then again, when you're that age, you are just beginning to think about the world around you.
An easy read, and it makes you wonder what is going to happen with her friends, her parents, her relationships - does she end up happy? Does she end up with any of the boys she dates thr More...
An easy read, and it makes you wonder what is going to happen with her friends, her parents, her relationships - does she end up happy? Does she end up with any of the boys she dates thr More...
Oct 05, 2010
Elizabeth
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I just finished this book and enjoyed it I think because I experienced the same struggles as the author albeit about 20 years later. There's something semi-refreshing about knowing that to some degree teenagers don't change very much across the decades. Margaret grew up in Southern Louisiana and dabbles in evangelical Christianity and with the kind of person she wants to be. I went through many of these same things, but I'm not sure whether someone who did not struggle with evengelical influe
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May 27, 2009
Beth
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I really didn't want to like this diary/memoir written by Margaret Sartor who grew up in Louisiana during the 1970s. I mean she had everything --- blond hair, her own horse, got into the cheer leading squad, had boy friends when the rest of us were hanging out in same-sex crowds (and not because we were gay) --- she was even elected Home Coming Queen. But there is something about this confused, wry, angst-ridden adolescent who finds God and then loses him again, whose best friend is a boy next
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Mar 21, 2009
Mark
rated it: 
Very funny and moving memoir recommended for people who are just getting back into reading ...
This memoir really held my attention. Many of her short, wry diary entries presage facebook status updates. Even though I am not enamored with the South (where the author grew up) or religion (which was a significant influence in the author's young life), I was really taken by the humor and the episodes drawn from the author's formative years. I could really connect with her humanity and the feeli
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Apr 19, 2011
Ceanne
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I wasn't sure when I first started reading this book if I'd like it. But, once I got past the first couple of chapters and got used to the "choppiness" of the diary entries, I got into it.
It actually took me back to my own youth in the 70's, although I seem to be a few years younger than the author. That same "angst" of not being pretty enough, or "enough" in any real way to those around me was brought back through reading her story.
I also More...
It actually took me back to my own youth in the 70's, although I seem to be a few years younger than the author. That same "angst" of not being pretty enough, or "enough" in any real way to those around me was brought back through reading her story.
I also More...
Oct 15, 2011
Suzanne
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Although she is (a little) younger, and grew up a Fundamentalist Christian in a small Southern town, Ms. Sartors diary had me remembering my adolescence, and nodding my head. Teenage angst and self conscious low esteem are universal, and I just could not put this book down. (I read it in 2 sittings). As she vacillates between boyfriends, and confides in, then rants against various girlfriends, I wanted to take her hand and say--Just wait, this too will pass. Intelligent and heartfelt, I love t
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Jul 24, 2011
Misa
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Ostensibly, "Miss American Pie" is a collection of diary entries from the author's teenage years in the mid-1970s. I can't say I'm totally convinced that these were actual diary entries, but this didn't diminish my enjoyment. I bought "Miss American Pie" when Margaret Sartor was having a signing at my favorite bookstore in Taos, New Mexico. I don't actually live in Taos, so it was conincidental that she was at the bookstore on one of the few days of the year I make it down
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Oct 28, 2007
Charlotte
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Although Margaret went through her adolesence in the 70's and I experienced mine in the 50's, we had some common themes. Every teenage girl feels others have answers to which we don't have access.
It was interesting to read of Margaret's search for spirituality and her daily thoughts of how well she was living according to her beliefs.
Margaret longed for a nickname but did not want to be called Peggy. Later when a special boy called her Maggie, she though More...
It was interesting to read of Margaret's search for spirituality and her daily thoughts of how well she was living according to her beliefs.
Margaret longed for a nickname but did not want to be called Peggy. Later when a special boy called her Maggie, she though More...
Nov 10, 2007
Emily
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This was written by Evans' Uncle Lee's best friend and next door neighbor growing up. She presents her real diary entries to tell the story of her adolescence. i've gotten the inside scoop on monroe, la and evans' quite remarkable family. :)
besides my personal bias, it truly is a great coming-of-age book about making sense of life in a broken yet beautiful world.
favorite quotes include: "Ellen Townsend's [Evans' Grandmother] bathroom is like a fairytale --or More...
besides my personal bias, it truly is a great coming-of-age book about making sense of life in a broken yet beautiful world.
favorite quotes include: "Ellen Townsend's [Evans' Grandmother] bathroom is like a fairytale --or More...
Jul 03, 2010
Cynthia
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Some of the entries in this memoir (taken from Sartor's old diaries) are hilarious--one day she's miserable, the next day she's deliriously happy. I really appreciate Sartor or whomever helped her edit those old journal entries--for the most part, entries consist of a sentence or so.
While it was definitely a trip down memory lane to re-live the angst of mean girls, frizzy hair, and boys, boys, boys, did I really want to go back to middle school/high school? Only ever so briefly.
While it was definitely a trip down memory lane to re-live the angst of mean girls, frizzy hair, and boys, boys, boys, did I really want to go back to middle school/high school? Only ever so briefly.
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Oct 14, 2009
Aileen
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Written using her diaries from growing up in the 70's, its fun to remember back to the things in life that seemed so important or life ending at the time which as an adult become so trivial. She had a typical teenage girl's feelings of inadequacy but as I read it there seemed to be no foundation for this as she had friends, boyfriends, etc. I wonder how she felt when she went back and read this diaries as her adult self.
Jul 28, 2011
I really enjoyed this book, and thought it was a quick, easy read. When reading the diary entries of a girl who grew up in a similar era to you, I think its natural to read it reflecting on your own memories of your teen years, which I expected, and I did. But the way that Margaret Sartor wrapped everything up in the epilogue took the book from being just a fun easy read, and gave it a lot of depth.
Apr 12, 2010
Dana
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A lovely writer, an engaging diary. You know these people. They are flesh and blood that come to life through the thoughts of Margaret Sartor as a beautiful young girl sharing her secrets.You will crave more from her true to life characters and landscape of a town in Louisiana. A sequel would make me very happy.I bought several copies for gifts. The best.
Dec 02, 2010
Amy
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I LOVED this book! LOVED! And I'm not easy with my love. I shall make every one of my writing students read it as a brilliant, hillarious, touching, embarassing reminder of those teen years are really like ... the attention span, the mood swings.... the ernestness. BRILLIANT! I only wish I could give it more than 5 stars.
Nov 07, 2011
Barbara
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Well, it was a little less interesting that I thought it would be. I did enjoy a lot of the references to stuff happening in the 70's, but I felt it needed more substance. I didn't expect her to doctor up her teenage diaries, but there needed to be more of a development of the characters and things that were happening. Some things got mentioned in a diary entry, but it's hard to really grasp the whole scene.
Jan 18, 2012
Jessie
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Easy read. Liked seeing how her style and handle on language evolved. But even though these words probably came from a real place, I felt no empathy toward her at all. She teaches at the university I work for and if I saw her on campus I'd probably just feel awkward rather than compelled to speak to her.
Jan 12, 2011
Jen
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An amazing depiction of life growing up in the south in the 70's. The issues of the time for a teen girl growing up amongst so many changes in her own life and around her are depicted beautifully. Felt like I'd been right there along side her through the journey.
May 07, 2009
Jennefer
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This was a very different kind of book. Just journal entries from the life of a girl who grew up in the south in the 70s. There wasn't anything very deep in it... not quite an Anne Frank type of experience she had. It was a very quick read and about 3 years into her diary it started getting a little more interesting. It just kind of ended though, since there was no real story to begin with. Her updates on the lives of all her family and friends changed the whole meaning of the book. It was
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Apr 22, 2010
Katy
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Ahh...the 1970s.....! Just slightly after my days of love, secrets and growing up, but it was an okay story, told of the era via Sartor's diary. And it was a typical teen's diary, with lots of mundane things and a good insight into the era.
Jul 19, 2011
Sally
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This book is basically Margaret Sartor's diary as she is growing up but I think my own diary is more entertaining (at least to me) because many days she will only write a sentence. I liked it though because it shows how even though she grew up in a different time, we are very similar!
Mar 16, 2009
Kelly
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This is a diary of a 13 year old girl in the south, though it was easy to read, it felt like a choppy Judy Blume book. It would have been better if the author had explained some of the events so the entries made more sense.
