Customer Reviews

Charlie's Notes: A Memoir

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Ms Kerr has a rich frame of reference from which to tell this tale of her musician father and the family that nurtured him. Most sagas about Italian families are set in Eastern cities but the DePietros went west after they landed on these shores around the turn of the century. And not just west, but to LA and Hollywood! Charlie, the authors's father, picked up a violin when he was a boy, and he never looked back. Music gave Charlie his life, his contacts with the stars, and a way to support his beloved Marge and their two daughters. And around it all was extended family, the brawling clan whose story calls out to be scored by Puccini. Ms Kerr's extensive experience as a teacher of mprovisational acting is evident in her evokation of character and her skill in building scenes. A good read. Recommended.

My mother comes from a large Lebanese family that came to the United States in 1916. Cherie's descriptions of Francesca and Eugene sound so much like the stories I heard from my aunts and uncles as I grew up. Her writing is musical, brilliantly descriptive and so moving. Although I knew it was a memoir, it reads like a great work of historical fiction. I felt every blow, every triumph, every heartache right along with these wonderfully drawn characters. I have since sent it on to my mother to read and I know she will pass it on to her sisters.

Author Cherie Kerr in "Charlie's Notes" gives us what our American history books never did: heart and passion, life-sized characters involved in the day-to-day grind of chasing the American dream hoping for a better life. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to go beyond the cold facts and figures and find the "real story" of an American family.

This book is a heartfelt tribute by a daughter who obviously understood the dreams, frustrations and drive of her beloved father. His love of music,the glue that held Charlie together through the insanity that was his early life, comes through loud and clear, as does his love for his family. While the great musical success he dreamed of always remained just out of reach, he clearly succeeded in creating a family that was bound together with love and respect. The music is , after all, fleeting, but the love remains, and this book is a testament to it.

Ms. Kerr did a fabulous job of representing her father's life with the utmost care, compassion and truth. Her metaphoric way of describing scenes in her father's life put me in the right mood at the right time. For example, the muscles in my body ached at the repeated beatings Maria Conchetta received at the whim of her deeply disappointed mother, Franchesca. I could feel the great loss Charlie felt when Eugene (Charlie's father) died. My heart pounded with the passion Charlie felt when he fell in love with Marge. I could hear the jazz playing in the background of my imagination as I turned each page. This is a great biography of a jazz musician and tribute to a well loved father.