Dark at the Roots: A Memoir [Paperback]

Sarah Thyre (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 25, 2008

As a middle child raised middle class and stuck out in the middle of Louisiana, hilarious writer and actress Sarah Thyre often found her in-between existence far less than desirable. Even from a young age, Sarah found ways of shirking her own hated identity — whether by stealing someone else's or lying about her own. She changed her name, claimed to be a great outdoorsman, and solicited donations for her favorite charity — which turned out to be, in fact, her. In addition, Sarah lived through the violent struggles between her parents and their often troubled finances, and the stories with which she emerged populate this charming memoir.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

When it came time to select a Guest Reviewer for Sarah Thyre's Dark at the Roots, a debut memoir laced with plenty of dark humor, Haven Kimmel was at the top of our list. Her own debut, the groundbreaking memoir A Girl Named Zippy, offered readers an unforgettable coming-of-age story that sparkled with originality, heralding the arrival of a writer to watch. Check out Haven Kimmel's review below of Sarah Thyre's Dark at the Roots.

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Guest Reviewer: Haven Kimmel

Haven Kimmel is the author of the bestselling memoir A Girl Named Zippy, and its sequel, She Got Up Off the Couch. Her novels include The Solace of Leaving Early and Something Rising (Light and Swift), and she is the author of the children's book, Orville: A Dog Story. Her next novel, The Used World, will be published in September 2007.

So much has been written, said, and expectorated about the memoir genre in the past five years there remains little to say. And it's true, the memoirs worth reading are rare--the ones that jolt or enlighten or delight with craft. Sarah Thyer's Dark At The Roots is a stand-out for countless reasons. Her sentences compel like electricity: the reader moves from one to the next as if being shocked, but pleasantly, or with the pathological love of the tongue for the toothache. Thank God I have this toothache, you think, because otherwise my life would be a pit of stupid. Her dialogue is dead-on (and having lived in both Mississippi and Louisiana I can tell you it isn't easy to replicate and virtually everyone gets it wrong). She is shameless and unembarassable and she makes a foreign world so concrete you can feel the shag carpeting and smell the extinct shampoo. Thyer handles a shadowy relationship with her father with a grace that both reveals and conceals, simultaneously. Most of all, from beginning to end she remains as consistent a character as one looks for in fiction: she is the best friend you wish you'd had, and the girl your mother warned you about (as if those two things don't always go hand in hand). My own sister recently said to me, as we were having a swinging contest at the park--I am 41 and she is 51--"I swing higher, I'm smarter and funnier than you, and people like me better." I can think of no better description for Sarah Thyer, or for her memoir, which was crafted with an edge razor-fine. She's gifted enough to write anything: fiction, another memoir, pamphlets about the dangers of hitting electric lines with your Rototiller. I can't wait for whatever comes next. --Haven Kimmel

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--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Publishers Weekly

Thyre, an actress, fashions a somewhat flat memoir about growing up in the middle-class South of the 1970s. Corny and unfocused, her work ambles episodically, from the early years living with her parents and younger sisters in Kansas City, Mo., where her mother took turns holding the Catholic Prayer Group at their house and mixing up the martinis for Father Don, to their move to the sticks of Louisiana and celebrating their hostile parents' eventual divorce. Thyre as the young narrator is a kid with moxie, known as the "liar in the family" and not above correcting her teacher's grammar. The memoir proceeds by anecdotes (stealing money from their skinflint father's bank account for camp and vacation, managing her asthma medication, watching her mom run over a turtle with the lawn mower, losing her virginity to Tommy Cusimano after her Our Lady of Prompt Succor's Autumn Celebration), but Thyre's writing lacks a cohesion determined by strong, memorable characterization. There are, however, many iconic '70s moments, e.g., listening to "Little Willy" on her mother's Gremlin AM radio, learning about rape from a Barnaby Jones TV episode, reading Paul Zindel books; and experiencing her sexual awakening while watching Looking for Mr. Goodbar. Packed with dippy dialogue and only a little raunchy and irreverent, Thyre's work amuses in small doses. (Apr.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Counterpoint; First Trade Paper Edition edition (February 25, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1582433968
• ISBN-13: 978-1582433967
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #594,919 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I DEMAND A SEQUEL!, June 12, 2007

By 

Marion "[e-mail]" (Louisiana) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Dark at the Roots: A Memoir (Hardcover)

I finished reading this lovely tome set in my illustrious home state of Louisiana last night and sat straight up in bed and shouted, "I DEMAND A SEQUEL!" As it was 2 a.m., my husband sat straight up in bed, too, and said "WTF?" Even the dog barked! LOL!

This is one of THE best memoirs I've read in years. Sarah Thyre is a born comedian and a fantastic writer. She captures the essence of the Coonass culture and the hidden joys of a dysFUNctional Louisiana childhood like no one else I've ever read. (I was born in south Louisiana and have lived here most of my life, so I know a good story when I read one.) Ahem...

My only regret was that she ended the book too soon. I'm dying to know what happened to her after high school (and the convenience store job so deliciously described) and if she really did go to LSU. So, Sarah, if you read this, please, please, please consider a sequel to this hilarious, touching, bittersweet story of your childhood.

I think it deserves ten stars after some of the dry, boring memoirs I've recently read. Buy this book if you need a good laugh and a summer read that you won't soon forget.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Title says it all., June 11, 2007

By 

Just_Karen (Portland, Oregon) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Dark at the Roots: A Memoir (Hardcover)

Sarah Thyre was born hungry--for food, for love, for laughter and most of all, for attention. Scatalogical, scattered, raunchy and hilarious, the book took a bit to win me over because of our narrator. She was the kind of kid that drove me crazy--pushing this much too far, too hard, never backing up, always in your face. The book is the same way. But by the book's end, her awareness of just how whack her family was and her constant efforts to mask and blend in with the regular folks really touched me. Excellent portrayals of her parents, her mother's eyes "glittering with Munchausen's," her father's complete inability to connect with his kids other than the occasional blow to the head. Hey, she made it through and I admire her for that. I do have to complain about the ending, though; it just stops.

If you enjoy this book, you might just love this novel: Colors insulting to Nature, by Cintra Wilson. I did!

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Loved the memories!, March 24, 2007

By 

SSA Girl (Louisiana) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dark at the Roots: A Memoir (Hardcover)

Anyone born in the late 60's or early 70's is going to catch all the hysterical references to our own childhoods. Sarah Thyre was able to put into words the feelings/attitudes of those crazy years, especially in the later chapters. From describing her old beat up "Gremlin", the music, the clothes, even her beloved copy of "The Preppy Handbook". I loved "Dark at the Roots", and look forward to more tales from this author.