World Famous Comics: The Same River Twice: A Memoir
The Same River Twice: A Memoir
By: Chris Offutt Publisher: Simon & Schuster Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Label: Simon & Schuster Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 192 Publication Date: March 25, 2003
Product Description: At the age of nineteen, Chris Offutt had already been rejected by the army, the Peace Corps, the park rangers, and the police. So he left his home in the Kentucky Appalachians and thumbed his way north -- into a series of odd jobs and even stranger encounters with his fellow Americans. Fifteen years later, Offutt finds himself in a place he never thought he'd be: settled down with a pregnant wife. Writing from the banks of the Iowa River, where he came to rest, he intersperses the story of his youthful journeys with that of his journey to fatherhood in a memoir that is uniquely candid, occasionally brutal, and often wonderfully funny. As he reckons with the comforts and terrors of maturity, Offutt also discovers what is best in life and in himself.
A Writer Worth Reading I read an essay by Offutt in The Eleventh Draft--a collection of essays on writing by graduates of the prestigious Iowa Writer's Workshop--that I loved so much I knew I had to read more of him. Offutt is a Kentucky native, who in this memoir, weaves a thoughtful, smart, often funny reflection of his life in different stages: in it, he works his way between life as a sort of aimless vagabond to falling in love with his wife and awaiting the birth of their child, all with a gorgeous attention to the natural world around him and the love that makes him feel whole. This is beautiful, meaningful, brilliant writing. I loved it.
Mound Monkey and Munky Munky Chris Offutt's first memoir is a pretty decent read. "The Same River Twice" is essentially the story of the years after he left home and hitchhiked across the country. The writing is lyrical and concise and there are quite a few amusing bits to this book (see for example the hilarious exchange between Offutt and a NYC-by-way-of-Jamaica hooker on pages 28-29). This memoir alternates (by chapter) between Offutt's cross country travels and his wife's first pregnancy. The latter portion of the pregnancy stuff is occasionally moving and majority of the book is amusing and well written. Recommended and I strongly suggest interested readers review pages 28-29 for some very useful looooove tips. Batter up!!!!
a surprisingly great read bring on the small authors i picked this book up as a recommendation from a bookstore and it was great read. The author who left home at age nineteen and drifts along with various jobs and finally ending up living on the banks of the iowa river. He takes regular walks comtemplating how his life is going to change and how good a father he is going to be(his wife of course is pregenant)as he takes these walks the stories from his odd jobs are woven in.For me the best job he had was when hewas pretending to be a real live walrus in a small circus.This is a great book give it a shot
An insufficiently recognized classic This magnificent memoir is absorbing, funny and deep, full of surprises. One of the best things I've read in years.
Country boy writes moving and hilarious memoir Besides the fact that Chris Offutt is a great writer, I like the guy's work because he's so honest and genuine. For those of you who can't tell the difference, Chris is an authentic country boy. Reading this memoir and sections of his novel "The Good Brother", I recognize the rhythm of speech, turns of phrase, and basic life assumptions that are innate in country boys like us from the Great State of Kentucky and southward, although I'm afraid that some traits are more reflected in the guys I prosecute than in myself. Offutt has given an admirable voice to a class of folks who are ridiculed and berated, but rarely understood. Thank you for helping us understand, Mr. Offutt-those of us seeking to understand ourselves, and those for whom the country is a place to visit. I'm afraid there aren't too many people today who get sentimental when they hear their state song the way we do when we hear "My Old Kentucky Home" (or "Georgia on my Mind"). It seems like no one understands the point of standing on a handful of dirt from your homeland when you get married in a foreign land (or New York City). At least they will recognize great writing when they see it. And here it is in your memoir.
Anything Goes Trivia
Megaton Man
Tony's Online Tips
Trevor
