[x]
Could not find that book.
My rating:
add to my books
Loading...
The End of the World as We Know It: Scenes from a Life
In the Goolrick home there was a law: Never talk about the family in the outside world, never reveal the slightest crack in the facade. To all appearances, they lived an almost idyllic life. Two respected, charming parents everyone loved. Three bright, smiling children. A lovely home on a quiet street nestled in a small college town. But behind the facade this family had c...more
Paperback, 225 pages
Published
April 15th 2008
by Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill
(first published January 1st 2007)
There is a good chance some of your friends read this book. Sign in to see!
sign in »
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
This book is currently not featured on any Listopia lists.
Add this book to your favorite list »
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
919)
I heard Mr. Goolrick on my local NPR affiliate and was intrigued by his story. The book is beautifully written, a fine description of the world of the white South. Great details, a boozy, journey through childhood memory.
The complaint of other reviewers that this book was too depressive and negative isn't one I share. In fact, I was somewhat refreshed to read a family memoir that doesn't wrap things up in a la-la-la happy fashion at the end. Goolrick is devasted by the events of his...more
The complaint of other reviewers that this book was too depressive and negative isn't one I share. In fact, I was somewhat refreshed to read a family memoir that doesn't wrap things up in a la-la-la happy fashion at the end. Goolrick is devasted by the events of his...more
Perhaps the people who wrote reviews for the back cover of this book read something completely different than what I checked out from the library, but who knows? The first third of the book was wonderful (perhaps this is all you have to read to write a back cover review) and Mr. Goolrick really set the backdrop for telling his life as he remembers growing up in Virginia in another era. I was actually estatic for thinking that perhaps I picked a "sleeper" of a book, but then all of a ...more
view 1 comment
I can't say that I loved this book. It is much too raw, much too explicit, much too painful to love it. But Goolrick's writing is amazing, and you want to think it's a novel, something that couldn't have possibly happened to someone, yet you remember it's his own memoirs, and your heart breaks all over again for him, for his stolen childhood, for his parents' cruelty, for his failed relationships, for the way he found cutting as a way of release and relief. It is mind-boggling to know that in...more
I had a hard time rating this book. On the one hand, the story was incredibly difficult and painful to read. Very, very depressing. I'm all for memoirs that scrape the scabs off old wounds, but I prefer how Augusten Burroughs writes, with dry humor even in the midst of agony. This book, however, was just agony.
However. I could relate so well to so many things Goolrick said that I found myself underlining more than a few passages.
So my rating of two stars is based upon wh...more
However. I could relate so well to so many things Goolrick said that I found myself underlining more than a few passages.
So my rating of two stars is based upon wh...more
[Please note there are spoilers]
Very sad! I'll admit that it was difficult getting through the beginning because of the amount of detail and because I'm not used to the style in which he writes. At the same time, his style is what makes this special and allows it to feel real. It is important to get through the beginning because it is Robert's unique way of sharing his story. He shares many random memories that lead us to some of the most painful parts and allows us to see how these me...more
Very sad! I'll admit that it was difficult getting through the beginning because of the amount of detail and because I'm not used to the style in which he writes. At the same time, his style is what makes this special and allows it to feel real. It is important to get through the beginning because it is Robert's unique way of sharing his story. He shares many random memories that lead us to some of the most painful parts and allows us to see how these me...more
Having enjoyed A RELIABLE WIFE, I thought I'd give Goolrick's memoir a try. Yes, there were some tidbits from his life that worked their way into the novel (particularly the mother who wouldn't/couldn't hold her child during its first years, but for a different reason).
I'm fairly well acquainted with Southern families and their many secrets, their emphasis on everything looking just right to the outside world regardless of what horrors are going on behind those closed doors. A lot ...more
I'm fairly well acquainted with Southern families and their many secrets, their emphasis on everything looking just right to the outside world regardless of what horrors are going on behind those closed doors. A lot ...more
I'm only giving this book 3 stars only because any normal person couldn't say "I loved it" because everything about it is so awful. Not the writing, I mean, but all of the events in the memoir. Goolrick's memories are so raw, fresh, and gritty, the reader can actually feel the pain. That is what I really loved about the book. In other memoirs that I have read, I thought, oh OK that happened, and that sucks, but I never actually had gut wrenching pain from it. If you want to truly know ...more
Who doesn't love a memoir that conjures up scenes that could be plucked straight from our own youth? Goolrick is about 13 years older than I am, yet I remember so many things he describes in full sensory detail, from my own growing up years. There is some amount of comfort in knowing there are others that remember some of the same things we do: mother ironing, life without television (not because it hadn't been invented yet), picnics where the kids played and the adults did adult things, like dr...more
I didn't know what I was getting into when I picked up this book. It was like I picked up a ticking bomb without knowing it. I grew up in a chaotic, dysfunctional family where I never felt safe. I was constantly trying to crack the code and make things better in my family. Eventually I just wished I wasn't born at all. I've blocked out most of my childhood. Reading Robert Goolrick's book brought back so many memories, memories I didn't know I would ever recover. I actually had to wr...more
I chose this book because I so enjoyed "A Reliable Wife". I jumped right into this book and really loved the first part. It reminds me of the show "Mad Men". All the smoking, drinking, wives with little purpose other than looking good and taking care of their husbands, etc. I'm sure there were many households like this during that era.
As of 3-9-10, I'm a little over halfway through the book. I'm to the part where the narrator is cutting himself with a razor b...more
As of 3-9-10, I'm a little over halfway through the book. I'm to the part where the narrator is cutting himself with a razor b...more
I read Robert Goolrick's book, A Reliable Wife, before I read this one. I wish I had read this memoir first. I found Reliable Wife to be a somewhat disturbing story and I wasn't sure why. Now that I've read The End of the World As We Know It, I think I have a little insight. This book was very difficult to read. It is the story of Mr. Goolrick's life growing up in the South (Virginia) and his life dealing with alcoholic parents and sexual abuse he suffered at the hands of his father when he was...more
Goolrick’s memoir reads more like a collection of essays rather than a chronological account of his life featuring mostly reflections from his youth.
His parents were products of their time when men were the sole breadwinners and women stayed home and took care of the house and children. Both of his parents were alcoholics but successfully kept up proper societal appearances.
The material in this book is not for the weak of heart. Goolrick’s life was tragic and the suff...more
His parents were products of their time when men were the sole breadwinners and women stayed home and took care of the house and children. Both of his parents were alcoholics but successfully kept up proper societal appearances.
The material in this book is not for the weak of heart. Goolrick’s life was tragic and the suff...more
I had a really difficult time coming up with an accurate review for this memoir. As far as memoirs go, this one struck me as simply mediocre for several reasons. One of my primary issues with the book was the way it was arranged. The stories were scattered and all over the place and there was no real chronological order. Though I am sympathetic with the author and his plight, I was left reading his memoir with more questions than answers. I really wish the novel had been arranged differently and...more
After reading the novel "A Reliable Wife," I wanted to go back and read Goolrick's memoir, which was published first (but written second). I found it fascinating that he started publishing so late in life, so I wanted to see what he was about. I wasn't crazy for the title of the memoir, though, mostly because it reminded me of the old R.E.M. song and I couldn't get the tune out of my head.
I enjoyed reading many of the recollections of Goolrick's past. I was intrigued by hi...more
I enjoyed reading many of the recollections of Goolrick's past. I was intrigued by hi...more
so very sad, and suprisingly well written for a first book, and one that did not get much critical notice. this man waited a very long time to tell his tragic family story and perhaps that is one of the reasons that it did not get the attention it deserves. he is not a pretty young woman writing about her comtemporary story of use and abuse; he is older, not attractive, writing about a time (the '50s) and a place (rural South) that are not as exciting as here and now in the glitzy city or secret...more
I did NOT love this book; for me it was like witnessing a train wreck. I was disappointed in the writing style; I really did not like the “oral narrative” he used and after reading “A Reliable Wife” I was expecting to at least be able to tell it was written by the same person! His memoir came across (to me, anyway) as SO disjointed and (for want of a better word) well, whiney. NOT that he didn’t have a lot to whine about… my problem is that from page 1, it was OBVIOUS that something catastrop...more
The way this story was told is somewhat jarring at times like the jump from his parents being mad at him to him being in the loony bin (his words) was jarring. No explanation of why he cut himself just that it happened and that he was in the Bin.It was explained in later chapters though.
This man’s life, what he has been through and still going through are tough to read about. After telling us about his cutting himself over and over then when he comes to the chapter about the night in...more
This man’s life, what he has been through and still going through are tough to read about. After telling us about his cutting himself over and over then when he comes to the chapter about the night in...more
Mr. Goolrick's retelling of his boyhood years leaves one wondering how he survived as well as he did. A disturbing tale, Goolrick leaves nothing to the imagination, and protects no one: not his parents, friends, siblings, least of all, himself. All are laid bare. While in some ways similar to The Glass Castle and Angela's Ashes with the over-use of alcohol ultimately destroying the family, the writing style is totally different. With repetitions and ramblings, and stream of consciousness pass...more
INCREDIBLE tale of alcoholism and mental illness and family dysfunction! The author, the biographer I should say, is a friend of a friends. LOVED THIS BOOK.
Parts of this book are really hard to read ... the cutting, the emotional distance of the author's parents, the abuse, and the development of his adult problems. It is not chronological, but skips back and forth between childhood and adulthood. I found it uneven ... in spots the tone was almost clinical and analytical, and in other spots it verged on rawness and horrible pain. I can't say I liked it, exactly, but I did read it through to the end. I will give "A Reliable Wife" a sec...more
This is truly a marvelous book and I did enjoy it very much. Remarkable on many different levels, heartfelt and moving,this author brings it all together with his profound writing style. You feel his pain interjected with humor when you need it most.
His brother suffers a "head explosion" or brain swelling. The reaction of his parents and sister are most interesting!
Just a hint of the different levels of family life and a wonderful look into their personal drama.
A per...more
His brother suffers a "head explosion" or brain swelling. The reaction of his parents and sister are most interesting!
Just a hint of the different levels of family life and a wonderful look into their personal drama.
A per...more
I read the back of the book which talked about a suburban family in the 50's-60's and all the secrets hidden behind the facade - and I had to read it. Essentially most people I knew were suburban, surrounded by families trying to be...........something. Leave it to Beaver, sophisticated, better than the neighbor. Life seemed so wrapped around illusion and "what people thought."
I didn't realize until I got into it that it was in fact a memoir. While it's well-written it'...more
I didn't realize until I got into it that it was in fact a memoir. While it's well-written it'...more
Perhaps the best description of what depression feels like that I have ever read...
"There is so much that happens to the human heart that is in the realm of the unthinkable, the unknowable, the unbearable. How most people carry on is a mystery. What they talk about at supper. How they can stand to sit in front of a TV from eight until Leno every night. How they can think bowling is fun. How they choose their neckties. How they bear the weight of everyday life without screaming.....more
"There is so much that happens to the human heart that is in the realm of the unthinkable, the unknowable, the unbearable. How most people carry on is a mystery. What they talk about at supper. How they can stand to sit in front of a TV from eight until Leno every night. How they can think bowling is fun. How they choose their neckties. How they bear the weight of everyday life without screaming.....more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
This book is DEPRESSING!! The Entertainment Weekly comment on the front of this book described it as " Unnerving, Elegantly Crafted Memoir...Morbidly funny". Morbidly funny was what caught my eye. Morbid yes, funny no. The 1st 3/4 of the book describes his childhood with parents who were self involved drunks. His problems as he gets older seem out of line with his childhood until page 165 when it becomes very clear why this author seems so depressed and hopeless. This is not a feel goo...more
Meilleur livre lu depuis le début de l'année ! Livre terrible, terrifiant, fascinant, indescriptible, qui m'a vampirisée pendant 3 jours. J'ai adoré et en même temps je ne pourrai jamais le relire maintenant que je connais la dose de cauchemars qu'il contient.
J'essaie d'en parler sur BOP (il FAUT que j'en parle ! Je ne laisserai personne échapper à mon avis ;).
Juste une chose : âmes sensibles s'abstenir (et c'est un conseil très sérieux, croyez-moi... Si c'était mon genre...more
J'essaie d'en parler sur BOP (il FAUT que j'en parle ! Je ne laisserai personne échapper à mon avis ;).
Juste une chose : âmes sensibles s'abstenir (et c'est un conseil très sérieux, croyez-moi... Si c'était mon genre...more
The End of the World as We Know It by Robert Goolrick seemed like an interesting memoir of a boy growing up in the 1950s watching his parents have cocktail parties and lead seemingly perfect lives. As I started reading this book, I realized this book was not what I thought it was. The main character tells stories of his life in gory detail, including his many stories of being raped, being depressed, cutting himself and being admitted to psychiatric hospitals. The story was not well told, and th...more
some members of my book club complained that this book was not "well-written." i agree The End of the World As We Know It didn't follow traditional literary method, BUT i don't think writing "great literature" was his intent. (if you read his novel, A Reliable Wife, you'd see that Robert Goolrick is indeed a masterful storyteller.) both of these books have rec'd high praise from many sources including NYT and NPR.
THIS book is a memoir, a history and a recount...more
THIS book is a memoir, a history and a recount...more
The stifling heat of The South in the Summer. Cocktails, the clothing and hairdos that go with the 1950s. Drunk parents. Never telling the family secrets. My kind of book. Sometimes. This book caught me by surprise. It was at once really funny and a terrible, terrible heartbreaking. Very well written and witty. It rambles toward the end but I couldn't blame him. You might ramble too if it happened to you. I am grateful that I fell into this story. This was a fast, atmospheric walk do...more
I am enjoying it for it's vivid details and warped characters in 3d ....why is it that these southern families have so many twisted secrets behind their respectable facades?
I've finished the book and I have to say it was searing! Incredibly honest and horrifying...as the author asks, "How could they (his parents and grandmother) go on?" The scars he bears both physical and emotional are with him always. He may find some redemption through bringing the trauma of his childh...more
I've finished the book and I have to say it was searing! Incredibly honest and horrifying...as the author asks, "How could they (his parents and grandmother) go on?" The scars he bears both physical and emotional are with him always. He may find some redemption through bringing the trauma of his childh...more
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The End The World As We Know It.... | 1 | 10 | Jul 18, 2008 11:43am |
Readers Also Enjoyed
Robert Goolrick was born in a small town in Virginia and attended John Hopkins University.
Fired after 30 years in the advertising business, Goolrick wrote his memoir, The End of the World as We Know It: Scenes from a Life. A Reliable Wife is his first novel.
Goolrick currently lives in New York City.
More about Robert Goolrick...
Fired after 30 years in the advertising business, Goolrick wrote his memoir, The End of the World as We Know It: Scenes from a Life. A Reliable Wife is his first novel.
Goolrick currently lives in New York City.
Share This Book
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »
“There is an ache in my heart for the imagined beauty of a life I haven't had, from which I had been locked out, and it never goes away.”
—
167 people liked it
“If you don't receive love from the ones who are meant to love you, you will never stop looking for it.”
—
87 people liked it
More quotes…
