The Trouble with Being Born

A Novel

Fiction & Literature, Literary
Cover of the book The Trouble with Being Born by Jeffrey DeShell, University of Alabama Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Jeffrey DeShell ISBN: 9781573668101
Publisher: University of Alabama Press Publication: September 15, 2009
Imprint: Fiction Collective 2 Language: English
Author: Jeffrey DeShell
ISBN: 9781573668101
Publisher: University of Alabama Press
Publication: September 15, 2009
Imprint: Fiction Collective 2
Language: English

Novel, memoir, and anti-memoir, The Trouble with Being Born depicts the lives of Frances and Joe, husband and wife. Told in their own alternating voices, they recall their lives, separately and together, and the divergent trajectories of their origins and aspirations.

 

Frances's story moves in reverse: beginning with her dementia in old age, her narrative moves backwards into lucidity, through a cruel and loveless marriage, the birth of her son Jeffrey, and into a childhood that she recalls fondly as a time of innocence and belonging.

  

Joe's memories begin in childhood, a bewildered boy struggling with poverty, racism, and isolation, and we watch him grow into a manhood fraught with wrong turns, rage, betrayals, and disappointment, caring in the end for the woman he has long mistreated.

 

The Trouble with Being Born is a stark meditation on memory and the struggle–both necessary and impossible–to remember.

 

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Novel, memoir, and anti-memoir, The Trouble with Being Born depicts the lives of Frances and Joe, husband and wife. Told in their own alternating voices, they recall their lives, separately and together, and the divergent trajectories of their origins and aspirations.

 

Frances's story moves in reverse: beginning with her dementia in old age, her narrative moves backwards into lucidity, through a cruel and loveless marriage, the birth of her son Jeffrey, and into a childhood that she recalls fondly as a time of innocence and belonging.

  

Joe's memories begin in childhood, a bewildered boy struggling with poverty, racism, and isolation, and we watch him grow into a manhood fraught with wrong turns, rage, betrayals, and disappointment, caring in the end for the woman he has long mistreated.

 

The Trouble with Being Born is a stark meditation on memory and the struggle–both necessary and impossible–to remember.

 

More books from University of Alabama Press

Cover of the book Laboring to Play by Jeffrey DeShell
Cover of the book Rediscovering The Past at Mexico's Periphery by Jeffrey DeShell
Cover of the book Making Pictures in Stone by Jeffrey DeShell
Cover of the book The Poisoned Chalice by Jeffrey DeShell
Cover of the book Footprints in Stone by Jeffrey DeShell
Cover of the book The Perfect Lion by Jeffrey DeShell
Cover of the book Linda Perdido by Jeffrey DeShell
Cover of the book Tennesseans at War, 1812–1815 by Jeffrey DeShell
Cover of the book Unknown Waters by Jeffrey DeShell
Cover of the book The Remembered Gate by Jeffrey DeShell
Cover of the book A-Train by Jeffrey DeShell
Cover of the book Silence and Song by Jeffrey DeShell
Cover of the book Hunt the Devil by Jeffrey DeShell
Cover of the book Ain't Nothin' But a Winner by Jeffrey DeShell
Cover of the book Creating Citizens by Jeffrey DeShell
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy