Hole in the World: An American Boyhood (Touchstone)

by Richard Rhodes | Biographies & Memoirs |
ISBN: 0671747258 Global Overview for this book
Registered by waternixie of Everett, Washington USA on 6/24/2012
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This book is in the wild! This Book is Currently in the Wild!
3 journalers for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by waternixie from Everett, Washington USA on Sunday, June 24, 2012
I should have known better than to bring this home. Of course I admire Richard Rhodes, an accomplished and successful man, for overcoming horrific childhood abuse at the hands of his stepmother, but this is just too difficult to read. A Child Called It was bookcrossed unfinished for the same reason. From the F.O.L. mini sale.

Journal Entry 2 by waternixie at Seattle, Washington USA on Sunday, July 22, 2012

Released 11 yrs ago (7/22/2012 UTC) at Seattle, Washington USA

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

In the "Gotta Get These Moving" box

Journal Entry 3 by BooksandMusic at Seattle, Washington USA on Sunday, July 22, 2012
I have selected this book from Ophelia's Gotta Get These Moving Book Box.

Journal Entry 4 by BooksandMusic at Seattle, Washington USA on Tuesday, February 23, 2016
The writing is excellent; the story is crushing and frightening. This an abused-child memoir, but it encompasses so much more of the author's life in order to give the reader a bigger picture. The abuse is the crushing part. The frightening part is the author's inner world after the abuse. He is just somewhat frightening to me in both his pain and his rage. He gets help, quite a lot of help in many ways by many people. His older brother Stanley experiences another trauma in the school the boys go to after they are removed from the family home. It sears into him in a way that is heartbreaking. I do understand the 'hole in the world' concept being both an adopted child (even with excellent adoptive parents there is still a baby with a hole in her world where the birth mother is absent) and there is a hole in my world where my deceased son is absent from this world. I sympathize and empathize, and thank the author for sharing his story.

Journal Entry 5 by BooksandMusic at Seattle, Washington USA on Wednesday, May 4, 2016
I am listing this book in the Non-Fic VBB.

Journal Entry 6 by BooksandMusic at Seattle, Washington USA on Sunday, June 5, 2016
Selected! Will mail it out soon.

Journal Entry 7 by BooksandMusic at Seattle, Washington USA on Tuesday, June 7, 2016

Released 7 yrs ago (6/7/2016 UTC) at Seattle, Washington USA

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Mailed to the bookcrosser who requested it.

Journal Entry 8 by Firegirl at Alexandria, Virginia USA on Saturday, June 11, 2016
Arrived safe and sound. Thank you!

Journal Entry 9 by Firegirl at Annandale, Virginia USA on Tuesday, January 2, 2018
This is a well-written, powerful memoir of an abusive childhood. Rhodes and his brother were physically and emotionally abused by their stepmother before being rescued and sent to a boy's residential labor camp/farm. (That sounds horrid, but it was definitely a life-saving step up for the boys.)

I have read several memoirs of childhood abuse. Many are triumphant or sympathy-seeking. This is neither. It is hard-hitting and honest, and it is *angry*. The author's fury at his stepmother (and his father for not protecting him) blazes off the pages. I can picture it being written by hand, with the pen pressing through several layers of paper. It is also touching and painful. There is a fair bit of introspective on the part of the author, investigating how his childhood impacted him as an adult. A difficult, but recommended, read.

(Counts as part of the 2017 Reduce TBR challenge.)

Released 6 yrs ago (2/8/2018 UTC) at George Washington University Hospital in Washington, District of Columbia USA

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

Left on the book and magazine cart in the main lobby. Counts for the "Keep Them Moving" release challenge. The cart has been very popular; books seem to fly of the shelves! (They rarely get journaled, but they are clearly appreciated.)

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