Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Literary and Social History Masterpiece, September 1, 2005
Review of Oglesby book
Oglesby's "Dinner With D. W. Griffith And Other Memories" surely is both a literary and social history masterpiece. This is anything but the typical "coming of age" memoir -- largely because of the quality of its writing - although surely it presents many of the usual child-to-adolescent transitions. "Dinner" for me brought back a host of time-and-place memories, sweet in their intimately recalled details and the richness of the prose, without being sickly overwritten.
As to the social history, Oglesby's memoir sketches the life of an American boy growing up in, and affected by, the Great Depression and World War II without his awareness of their lasting changes. The place was Louisville, "Gateway to the South," where first-hand memories of the Civil War still remained in the 1930s and 40s. Not the least of these is the author's recollection of a famous cousin at a family reunion, captured in the book title.
There are views of social and cultural institutions long gone from the American scene: genteel fortune tellers, orphanages, amusement parks reached by electric streetcars, the Ohio River flood of 1937 - probably the nation's most serious until the 2005 inundation of New Orleans - of a child's perceptions of civilian life downsides in a war, and, finally some of the peculiar social rituals of high school students in that time and place.
If there is a flaw with "Dinner," it is simply that there is not enough of it. At 120 pages, it could well be twice as long and therefore twice as enjoyable a read.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Mr. Oglesby is a master storyteller. This book is a triumph!, August 30, 2005
Everyone will have a favorite from this collection of sixteen stories covering people and events in the childhood and teenage years of author Joseph Woodson Oglesby. Mine is "The Two Faces of Love". But it's difficult to choose. The stories tracing his complex relationship with his father--"Tiger in the Alley", "The Great Flood", "Buttons", and Black Market Spy"--are all quite moving. Perry, his ally and best friend at school who lives in an orphanage, makes a poignant appearance in "The Tin Boy". Each of these stories contains a moment of strong emotion--a "growing up moment"--that shaped the author's life.
We see a cousin, early Hollywood director D. W. Griffith, make a dramatic appearance at a Sunday dinner, which ends in an uproar. Another cousin is a suspect in one of the most sensational murder cases in the state. In "The Death Sentence", the young Oglesby is forced to carry a weight almost to heavy to bear.
The writer grew up in Louisville and nearby towns. He writes in a clear and honest yet lyrical style that is easy to follow. Photos or other graphics accompany each story, making the characters he reveals and the events he chronicles even more real.
No one else can lay claim to these memories, but this collection may stir a lot of readers to recall people and events in their own lives, no matter where or when they were born or who their relatives and friends were, that helped shape their lives.
I highly recommend DINNER WITH D.W. GRIFFITH AND OTHER MEMORIES. It's a beautiful book.
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