The Bishop's Daughter: A Memoir
by Honor Moore
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 69)
Honor Moore's prose goes both lavish and lean for a satisfyingly moving read.
The facts of her father's life begin to matter less than the deeply drawn portrait of a complex relationship. The God-likeness of the father who was also a Godly man, Bishop Moore, gives this story moments of universal interest. Anyone who held their church and its leaders in awe as a child can understand the struggle it takes to recognize those power figures as human. That is, I think, what made me read this book. ...more
The facts of her father's life begin to matter less than the deeply drawn portrait of a complex relationship. The God-likeness of the father who was also a Godly man, Bishop Moore, gives this story moments of universal interest. Anyone who held their church and its leaders in awe as a child can understand the struggle it takes to recognize those power figures as human. That is, I think, what made me read this book. ...more
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Read in June, 2008
I read Ms. Moore excerpt from the New Yorker and it did not make me want to read the book. However, a few weeks later there was a letter from her family denouncing her memoir and I’m sad to say that led me to pick it up.
I should have stuck with my gut.
I found it incredibly disturbing that she in the year 2008 is unable to use the word bisexuality till page 264 even though her main theme is that her father had male lovers. The writer, herself was a lesbian for ten years or so but...more
I should have stuck with my gut.
I found it incredibly disturbing that she in the year 2008 is unable to use the word bisexuality till page 264 even though her main theme is that her father had male lovers. The writer, herself was a lesbian for ten years or so but...more
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Read in July, 2008
An excerpt in the New Yorker originally attracted me to this book because of the quality of Moore's description. That strength continues throughout. The first few chapters were a bit offputting because it felt like the kind of narcissistic attention that only other members of that family could appreciate. But, then, the larger than life character of the people who inhabit her story took over and I found it fascinating as well. Paul Moore, Honor Moore's father, became a priest, eventually ris...more
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Read in June, 2008
recommended to Eliza by:
NY Timed editorial - I liked the title
I had no idea who this woman was nor did I really care for about 60 pages. Then I enjoyed reading about her life and her complicated life with her father. She seemed to be protecting her father and his desire to keep his homosexuality hidden. To the point that the memoir doesn't dig really deep. Very strange how a man could have 9 children and have a secret life as well!
He was the bishop of (I think) St John Divine on the upper west side at a time when many were dying of aides. It would have b...more
He was the bishop of (I think) St John Divine on the upper west side at a time when many were dying of aides. It would have b...more
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Read in June, 2008
While I didn't read every word of this book (I love to skip around and do what I call "reading like a librarian" just to get the gist of a book and read the important parts, including the beginning, middle and end), I was impressed at how thoughtful and loving the portrait of her father was. Sounds like they had some differences over the years, and his hidden homosexuality created some tensions as well. Honor Moore delves deeply into all of this without being catty or self absorbed.
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This is a disturbing book on several levels. Written by Honor Moore, a woman of inherited wealth who has spent a large part of her life trying to get her father's love and attention. In a rather twisted way, she has outed this remarkable (but also sexually troubled) Bishop of the Episcopal Church. I was troubled by her minute psychanalysis of each experience and conversation, and especially the imagined ones! However, I didn't put the book down. Sorry about the sorry cliche, but I guess it ...more
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Read in June, 2008
If you loved the White Blackbird, skip this, or the scales will fall from your eyes! I think she's a breathtaking writer when she wants to be but this is grueling - we have to walk through her every over-analyzed emotion and fluctuating sense of her sexual self, in order to get a few (to be fair, beautifully-rendered) glimpses of her famous and highly admirable pa.
Bonus for 'Cliffies - she directed Stockard Channing and John Lithgow at the Loeb, they were her classmates at H-R...
Bonus for 'Cliffies - she directed Stockard Channing and John Lithgow at the Loeb, they were her classmates at H-R...
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Read in July, 2008
recommended to nicole by:
hmrecommends it for: memoir readers, someone interested in Episcopal church
Honor Moore's memoir is tremendous. There is so much poetry in this memoir, and many tearful moments. At the end, I found myself wanting to read more about her father, her life, how she made it through. She includes so much information, but it is so very interesting, I am compelled to keep reading and knowing about her and her father's lives.
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Read in July, 2008
recommended to Renee by:
I heard her read from it.
This is an astounding piece of work. The blending of history, US, familial and personal is just about seamless and exhaustive, it seems. I couldn't put it down -- and when I did finish it I thought she must be some kind of genius to pull all the stories together like that. If it doesn't win a Pulitzer something's wrong with the system.
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Read in June, 2008
If my dad had had any interest in becoming a bishop (or sticking around in the church at all, for that matter) this basically could have been my life. Except, you know, with a lot less homosexuality on all fronts. Mostly, however, I'm disappointed that the market for PK memoir is, most likely, tapped out.
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One of the National Book Critics' Circle's Good Reads.
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Read in July, 2008
A well-written memoir with some ups and downs. the history was very interesting. I found the father's story far more interesting than the daughter's.
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Read in May, 2008
What a satisfying read! You can tell that it was written by a poet -- very sensual. And courageous.
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We are having an event at our store with this author on June 25th.
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An awesome writer, and an even better teacher!
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