All the Ghosts Dance Free: A Memoir

by Terry Cameron Baldwin

A sweeping exploration of beginnings and endings, loss and letting go, All the Ghosts Dance Free takes readers on a journey through author Terry Cameron Baldwin’s from her childhood in a privileged but unstable enclave on the coast of Southern California, through her adolescence in Palm Springs and coming of age in San Francisco at the height of the sixties psychedelic revolution, and ultimately to her life as an ex-pat in Mexico. Struggling to deal with the death of her parents, as well as questions about her own mortality, Baldwin embarks upon a pilgrimage to a small town in Morocco―where, she finds, all of the ghosts dance free.

Genres: Memoir

316 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2015

About the author

Terry Cameron Baldwin is originally from California, where she received a BA in Psychology and a BFA in Painting and Printmaking from Sierra Nevada College in Lake Tahoe. She loves to travel for inspiration, to return to record her impressions in a variety of media. She has worked as a stained glass artisan, paper artist, painter, printmaker, jewelry maker, and calligrapher. She moved to San Miguel de Allende in 2006 from Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Reviews

[Karen Germain · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to She Writes Press for providing me with an advanced copy of Terry Cameron Baldwin's memoir, All the Ghosts Dance Free, in exchange for an honest review.

PLOT - Terry Cameron Baldwin's memoir details her 1950's childhood in Southern California, including the divorce of her two bohemian parents. Baldwin and her sister, Carol, split their time between living with their mom in Palm Springs, and visiting their father, in the South Bay, where he lived with his glamorous new wife and her children. Baldwin explores her hippy lifestyle during the sixties, when she became a single mom to her only son, Yohosame. Baldwin remained close to Yohosame's father, Yusef, who converted to Muslim, and moved to Morocco. In the last third of the memoir, Baldwin cares for her elderly parents, and visits Yusef's grave in Morocco. Baldwin's relationships are complicated, and often unconventional, but her life is full of love.

LIKE- Baldwin has a knack for setting a scene. All the Ghosts Dance Free, often reads like a travel memoir with lush, sensory descriptions of California, Mexico, Europe, and Morocco. It's really some gorgeous writing, and I found myself consciously slowing my reading, to luxuriate in her prose. I'm a Californian and she made my state proud!

I was most interested in her childhood, especially the dynamic at her father's house. Although not neglectful, her father and step-mom made it clear to the children, that they were on their own. The adults would provide the basics ( shelter/food/clothes) and wished the children well, but they planned on living their life for themselves. Baldwin's mother had a similar hands-off parenting approach, as she lived it up in Palm Springs. As a result, Baldwin spent a great deal of her life trying to please her parents, a theme that came back to haunt her as she cared for them in their old age. It's this struggle that ties the memoir together.

I found her relationship with Yusef, and her closeness to his children by other women, to be very interesting and heartening. Baldwin is testament to family being who you choose to love. It's a beautiful sentiment. She also is very embracing of other cultures and religions. I admire her openness and willingness to put herself out in the world.

DISLIKE- I overwhelmingly enjoyed Baldwin's memoir, but I did find it to run a little long, with uneven pacing. I was least interested in hearing about her life as a hippy in the 1960's. I understand that this is her life, but that section ( as recounted in her memoir), was significantly less interesting than her childhood, or her more recent years living in Mexico, and visiting Morocco. It just seemed like it was typical of other 1960's memoirs, where as the rest of her memoir was anything but typical.

RECOMMEND- Yes! All the Ghost Dance Free is complex and engaging. Baldwin is living a beautiful life, and her memoir is a worthy addition to your TBR pile.

Like my review? Check out my blog!

[Michelle Arredondo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thanks to the goodreads-powers-that-be for my Advance Reader Copy of the book All the Ghosts Dance Free: A Memoir. I was especially excited to get this book because I truly love a good.

Terry Cameron Baldwin gives us an engrossing story..or rather stories of her sometimes chaotic, quirky, whirlwind life...from her dysfunctional and flamboyant childhood all the way into the life struggles of adulthood. It's a seemingly tumultuous world but a beautiful one all the same. Fumbling to get through it all between two very different parents, two households, in two different locations, Palm Springs and the Portuguese Bend Club in L.A. Not very many people can say they've had the life that Terry Cameron Baldwin has had...the glam growing up in style and knowing style...high fashion..experiences with colorful celebrities, high society people....hipsters before it was called hipster...from having money to having no money to having money again...her father's eccentricities and beliefs, her mother's attempts at trying to find lasting relationships with men that were wrong for her while trying to stay financially afloat. She doesn't skip on the details when it came to her LSD trips while partaking in the cultish exertions of the Tim Leary years. Stories and memories so out there...so amazing...unknowingly selling peanuts to Walt Disney...meeting John Barrymore Jr before Drew even existed....a life in Mexico unlike any other. It's all in the book..and it's a wonderful adventure. But what I love is that it is not a tell-all of the rich and famous. As much as we want the gossip and the secrets of celebrities, she does not give us that and that's okay. She gives us her experiences and encounters..and if a celebrity crosses her path she talks about it..but that's it. This is her story....her relationships with the people that shaped her life...her journey. My only issue with the book is that typically I don't like a book with a lot of drag and slow moving pages..but because she drew me into a certain moment I wanted more..and then suddenly she veered off into another moment. It was not bad but there were times that I was becoming completely absorbed and then the story moved forward and I felt a little empty...a little anxious because I wanted just a little more from that experience. However, she more than makes up for that with her beautiful words. She most definitely has a way with turning a few sentences into something so poetic..flowing eloquently. The photos were also a very nice personal touch. It was great to see who I was reading about.

A wonderful memoir...and if you love memoirs then this one is worth the read. Full of dysfunction but with a great inspirational message.

[Debi Stout · Rating 2 out of 5]

This isn't one of those memoirs that I will rave on and on about. In all honesty, I believe it is written "over my head". My kind of book is the kind that is easy to follow, easy to read, doesn't require a lot of thought and flows along like "la, la, la, la, la". If I have to read - and then re-read - the same sentence to make the words flow so I can understand the sentence, I'm really not interested. Maybe my feeling about books has something to do with the fact that I have a very stressful job as a legal assistant at a law firm reading legal documents every single day all day. When I pick up a book to read on my own time, I want it to be a fun thing and not a complicated read.

I'm not saying this isn't a good book at all. The only thing I am saying is that this book just wasn't for me. The back cover told a great story and it looks it could be a great book - just not for me.

I received a complimentary paperback copy of this book from the publishers and BookSparks as part of the BookSparks "Definitive Memoir Blog Tour" in exchange for this post, which is my honest review and unbiased opinion.

[Teresa Kander · Rating 3 out of 5]

This author has had so many marvelous experiences, and we get to read about all of them. She has an amazing knack for setting the scene, whether it be California, Mexico, Europe or Morocco. You get drawn in, and feel that you are right there with her.

Both of her parents seemed to have a "hands-off" parenting approach. She was never a neglected child, but she and her siblings were pretty much left to their own devices other than being provided with shelter, food and clothing. This led to a lifetime of trying to please her parents, which seems to be the theme that ties all of the stories in the book together.

My biggest problem with this book was that it is written "over my head." I often had to go back and read sentences, or paragraphs, several times in order to understand what the author was trying to say. I really prefer to read memoirs that don't feel like a textbook in philosophy.

This is a truly wonderful book, it just wasn't a good fit for me personally.

[Randall · Rating 3 out of 5]

All the Ghosts Dance Free

Disclaimer: won this book in a First Reads Giveaway.

The first thing I noticed was the beautiful writing and use of language. The story includes the kind of coincidences only excused in non-fiction. Growing up in California in the 50s. Vivid description of the sixties, LSD, and living as a flower child. Then fast forward to 2010. And back and forth in time, drifting through memories and relationships. This includes an examination of growing up and living with narcissistic parents.

I had an ambivalent relationship w this book--while reading it I tended to find it engaging and well written. Between times of reading it I found it hard to sustain my interest. Took a long time to finish.

[Debbie Carnes]

I loved this book, growing in the 60's its like going back in time .

Growing up rich in Southern Cal and being in Haight Ashbury, drugs , alcohol , suicides, its all there.

Following this story is a journey that some will remember and some will not for being to far out there.

Wonderful book , a must read

[Melissa Seng · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review coming up!