Meander Belt

Moving Collection of Essays That Could Have Used Better Editing. I picked this book up because I thought it would be brutal in its similarity to my own life - I too am a son of the South that left home years ago to live a bit of a nomadic life (though far less transient than the author's). And it did hit home quite a bit, though maybe not as much as I was both hoping and fearing it might. Truly a stark, very real look at life and growing up in the South in the lower middle class. But in the acknowledgements, it becomes clear that this is a collection of essays rather than a truly unified narrative, and that makes the at times disjointed nature of this book become at least slightly more understandable. At the end of the day though, the book could have used a bit more editing to make this a bit more clear in some way or another and thus provide a bit more clarity and structure to the overall narrative. Still, an intriguing look and one that will certainly be enlightening to those who have never lived at this level in the region. Recommended.

Although this terrific book is technically an essay collection, it reads much like a continuous narrative memoir, focused on the author's relationship with his father and brother, but also with other significant figures in his life. And a difficult life it was, too, at least growing up in the hardscrabble confines of his family's Memphis home. Beautifully written and at times quite emotional. Highly recommended.