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Rotting Floorboards and Debut Dreams

TRIPPING THROUGH CHILDHOOD BEFORE LSD

An affecting autobiography that reflects philosophically on the perils of remembrance.

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A debut memoir recounts one woman’s emotionally dysfunctional upbringing.

This is an unusual remembrance not only because it largely covers Rabuzzi’s (Mother and Child, 1994, etc.) life only until the end of high school or because of her accounts of abuse, but because she chose to recount her experiences from the perspective of “Alicia,” a kind of youthful alter ego. While growing up in Vermont, Alicia distinctly felt the absence of her father, Howard, whose enlistment in the military following Pearl Harbor kept him away for so long that she didn’t immediately recognize him upon his return. Her mother, referred to as “Mama” throughout the book, was an accomplished biochemist but a remarkably immature person who married her husband on impulse. After Howard returned from the war, instead of pursing his credentialed profession as an attorney, he purchased a farm in rural Unadilla, New York, and relocated the family there. Alicia’s childhood is depicted as both lonely and unstable; her evenings were largely devoted to the completion of chores by herself, while her parents overindulged in alcohol and relentlessly attacked each other. The family never seemed to have enough money for the most basic goods, let alone birthday parties and Christmas presents. One Christmas, the family hastily decamped from a restaurant; when Alicia inquired about their rush, Howard admitted he didn’t have enough money to tip the waitress. Alicia was emotionally unprepared for social life and was often tormented by her peers both at summer camp and school. Prior to her senior year, her parents suddenly moved to Miami without informing her and sabotaged her return to school despite her aunt’s generous promise to pay for it. The conclusion offers a thoughtful meditation on how memoir messily combines fact and fiction and how the author’s recollection is designed to pay due deference to both: “So why not call Alicia’s story an out-and-out memoir? A need for some distance is my primary motive.” Much of the tale is heart-wrenching, especially as so much is told from the viewpoint of a confused and wounded child. Rabuzzi tells of traumas with impressive clarity and sensitivity and without a hint of cloying melodrama. Overall, this is a sad but gripping tale conveyed with great emotional intelligence.

An affecting autobiography that reflects philosophically on the perils of remembrance. 

Pub Date: Feb. 22, 2016

ISBN: 978-0-9973459-1-9

Page Count: 488

Publisher: CreateSpace

Review Posted Online: Sept. 26, 2016

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THE ELEMENTS OF STYLE

50TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION

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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NUTCRACKER

This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)

Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996

ISBN: 0-15-100227-4

Page Count: 136

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996

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