Status Updates From Stop-Time

me and my homies hate Donald

DNF - not for me

reading for memoir… not loving this, content wise

Randomly found this ancient book at a used bookstore and. It was published in the 60’s so, we’ll see if it’s problematic enough to DNF.

This is so good.

p98"An adult recognizes petty problems for what they are and transcends them through his higher preoccupations, his goals—he moves on...A child has no choice but to accept the immediate experiences of life at face value. He isn't moving on, he simply is."

p125"Victor had a habit of not looking at his son while talking to him. It was odd—he'd look at everyone else, moving from face to face while addressing Lucky."

His 4/10/05 obituary in the Chicago Tribune (by Stephen Bloom) calls this “one of the best books of our age” by “the director of the greatest incubator of literary talent ever assembled, the Iowa Writers’ Workshop.” High praise indeed—and the memoir IS amazing.

If I had not read and loved “Body and Soul”, I would never have picked up this excellent memoir of a boy (author Frank Conroy), who overcame a terrible childhood of loneliness and neglect to become a writer of merit and distinction.

Bad, bad stuff at the fair: a pedophile was running the ring toss

His childhood was fundamentally unsafe and quite bizarre.

Reading this because I love the way Conroy writes in “Body and Soul”—I see now why his description of the world of a neglected, fearful child is so amazingly authentic and painful.

This is good and I love parts of this book. The last fifty pages in particular were really great. However, this book takes FOREVER to get into. Luckily, I’m into it now.

i found the book very difficult to follow. i read as part of a writing course

Good

Delightful

Due at the library. To finish later.

Just a few pages in and I already get the feeling that this is a special book written by a special writer.

Book, why won't you end?

I'm reading this for a uni class but I can't seem to put it down. Conroy seems to attribute too much adult hindsight to his actions as is he held that knowledge as a teenager. Other than that it's a wonderfully crafted memoir that opens up for the reader in interesting ways.

On highschool being dismissed: "We spread like a liquid over the neighborhood and disappear into the subways."

Not getting into this one. May quit. Does anyone know if it gets better, and if it gets any less homophobic?