Two Memoirs
This is an addendum to the post I wrote at the beginning of January about my favorite books of 2006. I mentioned Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt, but then--even though it was right there on my list in my journal--I forgot to mention another book that I loved of 2006, which was also a memoir. It is called, A Girl Named Zippy by Haven Kimmel.

The interesting thing about having these two memoirs on my list of favorites is that they are very different.

Frank McCourt begins:

"When I look back on my childhood, I wonder how I survived at all. It was, of course, a miserable childhood: the happy childhood is hardly worth your while. Worse than any ordinary miserable childhood is the miserable Irish childhood, and worse yet is the miserable Irish Catholic childhood."

First of all, I have to say that I read his dedication and opening page about fifteen times in a row, to try to internalize how wonderfully put it was.

But he says that "the happy childhood is hardly worth your while." That is where I disagree--because A Girl Named Zippy is all about a normal girl growing up in midwest America. Of course, there are the odd events that happen which keep the story moving and the reader turning pages. But overall, it's not overly dramatic.

So, my thought for the day is: let a gifted storyteller tell any story--miserable or not--and it is definitely worth your while.