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A memoir of forgotten memories

Reviewed: 08-25-23

This is an interesting book. While he was kidnapped by his racist grandparents, it's not quite what it seems. McRae is a poet and the books often times reads like its own epic poem except the subjects it explores, such as Skateboarding, Acne, middle school popularity, Winona Ryder and the bonafides of such late 80's bands as Faith No More and Dinosaur, Jr makes the book far more accessible. The prose is lyrical, purposely repetitive, and despite his particular unique life story, relatable. This is not anything like a straight -forward true crime story as perhaps one might be tempted to believe based on the byline. Rather, it's a book about what we remember, what we think we remember, what we couldn't have forgotten and how childhood trauma, in this case pretty extreme PTSD, affects who we are and will become.

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1 person found this helpful

Imminently Readable, if not wholly insightful

Reviewed: 10-30-21

Jim Newton's unabashedly adoring biography of 4-time California Governor Jerry Brown is a top-line overview of the politicians' professional career juxtaposed against the history of California (and to some extent the entire country) during the same period of time. The book doesn't take very many deep dives; his descriptions of Brown's 3 bids for the Presidency are more anecdotal than insightful and Newton spends more time on Kathleen Brown's brief sojourn into pubic life than he does Jerry's woebegone attempt to win a Senate seat. Newton writes this book from the left and makes no apologies for displaying his clear respect for Brown both politically and intellectually. Because of that, the book is light on critical analysis of Brown. While long passages are spent lauding (deservedly so) Brown's leadership on climate change as well as a somewhat tunnel-visioned reflection of California's economic rebound during his second stint in office, the devastating homelessness crisis in the state that exploded largely on Brown's watch is given not much more than a cursory acknowledgement towards the very end of the book. Still, I too am a Brown fan and even volunteered on his 1992 campaign for the Presidency as a college student and I enjoyed the book. Newton is a fine writer and while at times the book lacks depth, it's that same snappiness that makes the book imminently readable and always interesting. I don't know if there will be another Jerry Brown biography - Newton's insistence that Brown's legacy (a word he goes at pains to show that Brown doesn't care about) has a significance beyond California's borders is not untrue but probably overblown - you can say that it's very possible no single individual has been more vital to California's history over the past 50 years than Jerry Brown. Newton's book serves as an entertaining and well-written overview of these times and the man who was shaped by and helped shape them.

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