Scan barcode
notesonbookmarks's review against another edition
3.0
This book was not written for me. I know exactly who I'd give it to, and some stories made me laugh, but I had a hard time wrapping my head around the gun loving, other races hating culture that Key was raised in and pokes fun at in this memoir.
rhettreads's review against another edition
4.0
This book was a hilarious, and still beautiful account of parenthood, marriage, and the strong hold in which family keeps us. Key had me laughing aloud throughout these pages, and by the end, I was in tears from the meaningful relationships that unfold. Highly recommend; this book produces all the feels.
tanya_the_spack's review against another edition
4.0
Not the sort of thing I'd normally read, but it ended up in my hands, so sure, I figured, I'd read it. Humorous and touching.
thuglibrarian's review against another edition
5.0
One of the funniest and thought provoking books that I've read in a long time. I read a prepub of the book on the beach and could not stop laughing.
lynnaeaowens's review against another edition
4.0
A laugh-out-loud but a tad bit depressing memoir of life growing up in rural USA as a bookish child with a very red-neck dad. I appreciated the tension between Key's obvious love and respect for his father, and how he disagreed with him so broadly.
4/5
4/5
kalegalv's review against another edition
5.0
This may be my favorite memoir ever. You will laugh and cry and reread sentences because they are so beautifully crafted! Highly recommend, especially if you have a quirky Southern father of your own
scorpstar77's review against another edition
3.0
The author wrote a memoir of growing up with his father, a man handy with a belt (for whipping), a gun (for killing animals), a football (as a player and then a coach), and babies (known by many as a Baby Whisperer) - all things the author feels he is not at all good with. Key explores his great love for his father through a lens of complicated feelings. He both worships his father and is unapologetically his opposite; he looks down on his father and then realizes he shares some of the same embarrassing traits. I laughed heartily at some points, and inwardly cringed at others. I think the glib treatment of racism held me back from becoming invested for a while - there were parts, like that, where it just felt like he was trying too hard to be funny over a subject that really just isn't funny at all. I liked the book - especially Key's exploration of his own marriage toward the end - but despite having grown up in the same time period in the same kind of rural Southern community, I just never felt I really connected with the author, so I didn't love it.