From: Van Meter, Mariana <mariana_vanmeter>
Date: Sat, 19 Aug 2000 10:21:09 -0700

I'm glad we're talking about Cleary's memoir in this recent string because I have an ongoing "debate" with a fellow librarian who worships Cleary. I read the _Girl from Yamhill_ on vacation and was horribly disappointed in it. I know she is well-loved and I haven't read any of her works besides _Ribsy_ but I can't get over the fact that I thought her book was so self-pitying. Granted, I don't read a lot of memoirs so I may just not be used to the self-examination/analysis and detail of family difficulties that occurs. I was expecting a more positive look at growing up and how her experiences molded her as a writer. I can understand the pain and difficulty that she had with her mother but I didn't get a sense of "this is the way it was for me but it made me who I am today" which would have made the book less laborious and painful to read. Each situation was so detailed that I felt relieved yet discouraged when I finished it. Perhaps the second one is different but to me the first seemed like an exercise in analysis.

Mariana Van Meter Tempe Public Library mariana_vanmeter at tempe.gov
Received on Sat 19 Aug 2000 12:21:09 PM CDT