Genre: Memoir/Humor
Description:
“For more than fifty years, Harold Phifer's childhood living
conditions remained a secret, even from those who thought they knew him best.
No one knew about his past growing up with a mother who suffered from mental
illness; a greedy, controlling aunt; a mindless and spoiled older brother; an
absent father. It wasn't until an explosion in Afghanistan that his memory
blasted back into focus. This book is the result of a long, cathartic chat with
a stranger at a beach bar, where Harold finally found some peace.”
Author:
“Harold Phifer was born and raised in Columbus, Mississippi. His first
twenty-five years were spent entirely in his home state. After graduating
Mississippi State and Jackson State Universities, he became a highly
specialized air traffic controller, living and working as an international
contractor serving numerous tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. Surviving Chaos
is his second book.”
Appraisal:
As I’m sure I’ve said before, one of the things I like about memoirs is
to take the opportunity to compare my experiences to the author’s. I’ve read
memoirs of authors who grew up in the same environment as I did (even the same
town in one case) with a comparable family situation, roughly the same time
frame and at least some of the same experiences. These provide value to the
reader in various ways, possibly giving them a different perspective on some of
their own life experiences.
However, other memoirs are much different. For example, in this one the
timeframe Harold Phifer, the author, was growing up was just a few years behind
me and in the same country. Beyond that we have virtually nothing in common.
Many people gauge their opinions and reactions to the actions and decisions of others
based on the assumption that everyone had the same basic experience and
background as they do, because the majority of those around them did exactly
that. Reading about someone with a vastly different experience, like this
author’s growing up years, should drive home the fact that everyone’s
experience wasn’t the same. Not everyone had the same expectations placed on
them, support in reaching their goals, or good role models around them as
examples of what to aim for.
Reading about Harold’s childhood drove home how lucky I was, but in a
way that was interspersed enough with humor that it wasn’t a constant downer,
which it could have easily been. It was an entertaining, mind opening, and
educational read. Not a typical combination.
Buy now
from: Amazon US Amazon UK
Format/Typo
Issues:
No significant issues.
Rating: ****
Four Stars
Reviewed
by: BigAl
Approximate word count: 60-65,000 words
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