2015 Book Review #15: I Thought My Father Was God

[jethrien]

Title: I Thought My Father Was God and Other True Tales from NPR's National Story Project
Editor: Paul Auster and Nelly Reifler
Genre: Autobiography anthology
Thingummies: 3.5

Synopsis: Do you like This American Life and The Moth? This is for you.

Thoughts: This is a series of people's anecdotes, ranging from half a page to three or four pages long, curated for interestingness. It's like going to a very big party and hearing the single most fascinating thing that happened to every person there.

They're arranged by topic, which has its drawbacks. When you're in the Death section, you generally know someone's going to die. The Dreams section got tedious--honestly, there are only so many stories you can read about people having a dream only to have it weirdly connected to reality before it gets completely formulaic.

Some are definitely more interesting than others. But overall, it's kind of a fascinating window into not only other people's lives, but what other people consider to be the most interesting story of their life.

Comments

[jethrien.livejournal.com]

I read them a couple at a time while supervising ARR in the basement. It was a very good book for reading while watching a toddler. Didn't require much ability to hold a coherent thought for long.