A difficult but often captivating look at the legacy of abuse.
Neely’s debut memoir explores his traumatic childhood and its impact on his spiritual life as an adult.
The author writes that he was the victim of daily, systematic violence between the ages of 4 and 18. At the hands of his 6-foot, 220-pound father, he says, he would suffer innumerable blows, insults, and other psychological abuse. By middle school, he’d come to recognize that “Dinnertime was the most dangerous time of the day” and that it could explode at any minute into violence. Neely alternates between memories of brutal childhood incidents in Pittsburgh in the late 1950s and early ’60s and moments from his aimless, troubled adulthood. After escaping the torment of his home life, he drifted around the country, joined the U.S. Marines in 1974, and later worked odd jobs, struggled with alcohol, and sometimes found himself homeless or in psychiatric institutes; he notes that he may have undiagnosed mental illnesses in addition to a confirmed dissociative disorder. With the help of Alcoholics Anonymous, Neely came to see himself as a detective trying to solve the mystery of his spiritual life, specifically examining “a sacred unknown” that he says has guided him through his turbulent upbringing and the dark depths of addiction. Throughout, he maintains that his father was a pure incarnation of evil, and as he calmly leads readers through his horrifying memories, he convincingly portrays that parent as a monster. Interjections from the author’s current perspective, however, are often bogged down by overly vague spirituality; for example, there are many repetitive, opaque references to “inner truth” and “deeper realms of thought.” When Neely narrates specific moments from his adulthood, though, he taps into some truly compelling and complex reflections, as when he tells of his identification with gay AA-meeting attendees’ stories of abuse, which he calls “inspirational in as profound a way as I thought possible.” His short stories about other abuse survivors he’s known close out his unusual and powerful work.
A difficult but often captivating look at the legacy of abuse.Pub Date: Sept. 6, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-977217-13-4
Page Count: 220
Publisher: Outskirts Press
Review Posted Online: Jan. 8, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
An enjoyable slice of 20th-century music journalism almost certain to provide something for most readers, no matter one’s...
Music journalist and musician Wald (Talking 'Bout Your Mama: The Dozens, Snaps, and the Deep Roots of Rap, 2014, etc.) focuses on one evening in music history to explain the evolution of contemporary music, especially folk, blues, and rock.
The date of that evening is July 25, 1965, at the Newport Folk Festival, where there was an unbelievably unexpected occurrence: singer/songwriter Bob Dylan, already a living legend in his early 20s, overriding the acoustic music that made him famous in favor of electronically based music, causing reactions ranging from adoration to intense resentment among other musicians, DJs, and record buyers. Dylan has told his own stories (those stories vary because that’s Dylan’s character), and plenty of other music journalists have explored the Dylan phenomenon. What sets Wald's book apart is his laser focus on that one date. The detailed recounting of what did and did not occur on stage and in the audience that night contains contradictory evidence sorted skillfully by the author. He offers a wealth of context; in fact, his account of Dylan's stage appearance does not arrive until 250 pages in. The author cites dozens of sources, well-known and otherwise, but the key storylines, other than Dylan, involve acoustic folk music guru Pete Seeger and the rich history of the Newport festival, a history that had created expectations smashed by Dylan. Furthermore, the appearances on the pages by other musicians—e.g., Joan Baez, the Weaver, Peter, Paul, and Mary, Dave Van Ronk, and Gordon Lightfoot—give the book enough of an expansive feel. Wald's personal knowledge seems encyclopedic, and his endnotes show how he ranged far beyond personal knowledge to produce the book.
An enjoyable slice of 20th-century music journalism almost certain to provide something for most readers, no matter one’s personal feelings about Dylan's music or persona.Pub Date: July 25, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-06-236668-9
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Dey Street/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
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BOOK TO SCREEN
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Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
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