false 51296 8 "A memoir, at its heart, is written in order to figure out who you are," writes Sean Wilsey, and indeed, <I>Oh the Glory of it All</I> is compelling proof of his exhaustive personal quest. It's no surprise that as a kid in the '80s, Wilsey found similarities between his own life and his beloved <I>Lord of the Rings</I> and <I>Star Wars</I>--his journey was fraught with unnerving characters too. <p> Wilsey's father was a distant, wealthy man who used a helicopter when a moped would do and whose mandates included squeegeeing the stall after every shower. Much of Wilsey's youth was spent as subservient to, or rebelling against this imposing man. But the maternal figures in Wilsey's childhood were no less affecting. His mother, a San Francisco society butterfly turned globe-trotting peace promoter, seemed to behave only in extremes--either trying to convince young Sean to commit suicide with her, or arranging impromptu meetings with the Pope and Mikhail Gorbachev. And Dede, his demon of a stepmother, would have made the Brothers Grimm shiver. <p> As always with memoirs one must take expansive sections of recalled dialogue with a grain of salt, but Wilsey's short, unflinching sentences keep his outlandish story moving too quickly for much quibbling. In the end, Wilsey says, "It took the unlikely combination of the three of them--mother, father, stepmother--to make me who I am." It's a fairly basic conclusion after 479 pages of turning every stone, but it's also one that renders his story--more than shocking or glorious--human. <I>--Brangien Davis</I> 50061 2005 Oh the Glory of It All total:1375|5:237|4:484|3:445|2:167|1:42| 1375 4832 1900 268 4 3 false false Sun Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun Apr 20 10:14:42 -0700 2008 Sat Jul 05 09:15:20 -0700 2008 Oh the Glory of It All, "How the Hell did this get published?" And I did not ask this question because I thought the book was bad. No, it's great. It's weird and funny and engrossing and moving and it takes you to places m...more...]]> 3 3 false false Sat Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Fri Sep 28 14:30:25 -0700 2007 Fri Sep 28 14:42:08 -0700 2007 more...]]> 1 2 false false Sun Mar 23 14:21:36 -0700 2008 Thu Mar 27 15:38:56 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 2 false false Wed Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Thu Dec 20 14:27:42 -0800 2007 Thu Dec 20 14:37:08 -0800 2007 more...]]> 3 2 false false Sat Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sat Sep 08 19:36:17 -0700 2007 Sat Sep 08 20:30:54 -0700 2007 more...]]> 2 2 false false Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2005 Tue Jul 24 09:33:51 -0700 2007 Tue Jul 24 09:36:30 -0700 2007 more...]]> 3 1 false false Thu Sep 06 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sat Apr 05 23:01:44 -0700 2008 Sat Apr 05 23:08:09 -0700 2008
I bought this book at the Hong Kong airport last August and it has been my favorite flight companion since then. I was able to put the book down between flights, but the detail and depth of this long-winded memoir are so rich that the author has built a San Fran...more...]]> 1 1 false false Thu Jan 22 15:09:29 -0800 2009 Thu Jan 22 15:23:57 -0800 2009 more...]]> 0 0 false false Thu Feb 05 09:34:19 -0800 2009 Thu Feb 05 09:34:19 -0800 2009 For his first book, Wilsey, 34, an editor at McSweeney's, seems committed to rise above the kind of chatter that Oh, The Glory of It All has prompted in his native San Francisco. Critics praise the author's talent, particularly his ability to merge his childhood and adult emotions into a coherent, f...

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The Critics Rave

"Wilsey's portrait of a scheming stepmother is... deliciously searing ... and convincing." - The New York Times Book Review

"Rollicking, ruthless, though ultimately generous-hearted." - Vogue
...more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri Oct 30 21:09:16 -0700 2009 Fri Oct 30 21:13:38 -0700 2009 more...]]> 2 0 false false Sat Nov 14 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Thu Dec 25 13:25:51 -0800 2008 Sat Nov 14 02:52:35 -0800 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Fri Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2006 Fri Jul 18 09:22:40 -0700 2008 Mon Jul 28 13:46:17 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Tue Jan 08 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Tue Apr 08 14:56:12 -0700 2008 Thu Apr 24 09:57:39 -0700 2008 “A memoir, at its heart, is written in order to figure out who you are."

As lives go, Sean Wilsey’s was destined for a memoir; the life that he was born into is just too over-the-top to be ignored. Insane wealth, eccentricity, betrayal, confusion, power, celebrity, depression,...more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Mar 29 19:35:55 -0700 2008 Sat Apr 12 13:46:03 -0700 2008
His mother, Pat Montondan, was a manic-depressive "society butterfly turned globe-trotting peace promot...more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=51296