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 goes on behind closed doors (and elsewhere, too) here, more than you'll want to know, in fact.

There's such a thing as TOO MUCH INFORMATION. I can understand Goolrick writing this book, even though it doesn't appear to be a cathartic experience for him - he even states "You must wonder why I tell it at all. You must wonder at the selfishness, at the hurt inflicted, at the terrible aches revisited for no real reason." He goes on to say that he tells it in hopes of sparing others the experiences that have scarred him, physically and emotionally.

Goolrick was not a celebrity when the book was published - was the publisher aiming at the Augsten Burroughs market? Not having read those, I can't be sure.