An American Childhood

That question propels AN AMERICAN CHILDHOOD by Annie Dillard, which is among the better of the many memoirs I have read. It is set in Pittsburgh, and it begins in 1950 when Dillard was five and ends when she goes off to college. At one level, AN AMERICAN CHILDHOOD is a wonderful tale of growing up in America in the 1950's. To be sure, Dillard grew up in a loving family, which also happened to be relatively affluent (maid, 24-foot-cabin-cruiser, vacations on Sanibel Island and at the grandparents' summer home on Lake Erie, country clubs, and private girls' school). Which betokens, of course, that Annie Dillard's was not the American childhood of most Americans born in 1945. But what really distinguishes her memoir is not the story of a relatively privileged childhood, but the exuberance and wonder with which she lived it. And for that reason, AN AMERICAN CHILDHOOD is worth reading by one and all, regardless of generation or socioeconomic background.One of the treats of Dillard's memoir is how she portrays the "interior life" or life of imagination of a small child, and how that very solipsistic world is gradually fragmented by and then integrated with the exterior world of other people, and of history and the passage of time. A mission of Dillard's as a girl was to experience as much as she could, as fully as she could, and then remember as much of it as she could. "How much noticing could I permit myself without driving myself round the bend? * * * Too little noticing, though--I would risk much to avoid this--and I would miss the whole show. I would wake on my deathbed and say, What was that?" So Dillard pushed herself to observe - and remember - all kinds of details. Such things as the skin on her mother's hands, people's faces, games of "capture the flag", throwing snowballs at cars, air raid drills with heads pressed against the walls and arms folded over heads, ballroom dancing with the awkward other-worldly boys, and the exploits of Roberto Clemente in right field. But, as Dillard remarks near the end of the book, the particulars are not important. "What is important is anyone's coming awake and discovering a place, finding in full orbit a spinning globe one can lean over, catch, and jump on."AN AMERICAN CHILDHOOD is the antithesis of - and an antidote for - those all-too-common contemporary memoirs of victimhood.

I read this book because I have recently moved to Pittsburgh and a friend told me about Annie Dillard and how much he enjoyed this book and others she has written. I have a copy of "The Writing Life" which I haven't read yet and decided that I would read "An American Childhood" first and bought it for my Kindle. After reading many of the other reviews of this book I see that many people either loved it or hated it. Some of the things that others hated, I loved. Ms. Dillard's writing style is wordy but I believe that there is no simple way to describe the exultant feelings she had as a child. I grew up 50 miles north of Pittsburgh tromping around in the woods, climbing trees and hills and reveling in life in much the same way that Ms. Dillard did. I could actually feel her joy and freedom as she ran down Penn Avenue with her arms extended on a summer day. If I saw a child doing that today, I would smile at her with understanding as the woman on the sidewalk did when she witnessed Annie doing it. I identified with Annie's interest in Native Americans and playing at being an Indian; I identified with her love of rocks and her rock collection which I also had on a smaller scale; I identified with her love of books as I sat on the marble library floor and read through shelves of books every summer. I admire Annie's memory and her ability to drop back into childhood in a way that takes the reader by the hand and invites him to walk with her. Most of all, I love Annie's enthusiasm with life in general.For me, this was not a book to be read like a novel by curling up and diving in. There is SO much to read, feel and digest, that I read it in small segments. I would read a little, think about it and talk to my husband about it. It is a book to be savored and, perhaps, read as a meditation. A meditation on the awakening of one's senses, on one's experiencing of life as it unfolds and as one becomes aware of the larger world. It is a beautiful book but if you are looking for an action packed thriller or a hot romance, this is not the book for you.

Love this book, Annie Dillard is a brilliant writer.

stunning book

Evocative and very well-written.

Les livres d'Amazon arrivent toujours très bien emballés, donc en très bon état. Ce livre est un vrai plaisir, Annie Dillard a une très belle écriture qui fourmille de détails et d'images très vivantes. Elle raconte son enfance sans avoir oublié la petite fille qu'elle était avec sa formidable curiosité et aptitude à dévorer la vie par tous les sens, sa vitalité, sa sensibilité dans une époque très bien décrite en font un témoignage exceptionnel.