Customer Reviews

Johnny's Girl: A Daughter's Memoir of Growing Up I

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I read this book after seeing the movie 'Johnny's Girl' which is based on Kim Rich's life story. As I suspected, the book offered a fuller portrait of the struggles Rich endured and the sense of survial she must have felt. Her writing style is fluid and funny and moving and I recommend this book to readers who value excellent literarily nonfiction. I look forward to her next book!

This is a very interesting book for anyone who has wondered what life was like in Anchorage prior to the oil boom. It the story of a small time punk who proceeds to get involved in a variety of cheap stunts that all revolve around either gambling, prostitution or racketeering. While it sounds depressing, actually it is a glimpse into the highly spirited society (admittedly the underbelly) that made Alaska such an exciting place to live. For anyone who thinks Alaska is all about gortex or salmon, this is a must read.

Kim Rich, who grew up in Anchorage during the 60s and 70s, had the parents from hell: Mom was a prostitute who ended her years in a mental hospital, and dad was an operator of illegal gambling joints who was eventually murdered due to a dispute over ownership of a massage parlor. Her parents tried to create the facade of a respectable middle-class family when Kim was a child, but all for naught; Kim imparts such experiences as being mistaken by the police for a prostitute, at age 13, when they raided her house.

I sense writing the book was an act of therapy for the author, who was trying to reconcile the fact that although her parents loved her, they were, at the core, bad people. It is deeply moving to see how the author struggled to have a normal childhood and normal teenage years despite the underworld characters who surrounded her and the emotional baggage her parents saddled her with. This well-written, articulate book is also a portrayal of what Anchorage, Alaska, was like during the 60s and 70s.

WOW! I couldn't put this book down. The author captures everything you look for in a book. This book is well written, and well researched. The time and devotion it took for her to research not only her life but the lives of her parents and their parents as well. I am beyond impressed. I would recommend this book to everyone. I recommended it to my husband and he can't put down either now! Kudos to Kim!!!

Although biographies are not my favorite reading, I was drawn to this when it first came out. I still remember the feelings evoked by how she was able to deal with her parents and her life -- her strength and resilience as she was growing up. Her strength in her later search for answers, her maturity and understanding, and her forgiveness and love for her mother and father, although both parents were flawed and could not give her the kind of love and life so needed by a child, is a powerful statement.

This book was written by/about the daughter of one of my husband's classmates in Ironwood, MI. He had read the book in the past, but is re-reading it now. When he is finished with it, I will read it. In part, it is a picture of where he was born and raised.

I grew up in Anchorage during the same time that Kim Rich did so I bought this book for my sister for her birthday. It got passed from family member to family member until it made it back to me in Texas. My mother doesn't usually read books and even she couldn't put it down. I found it to be very interesting although it may not be as good to those without ties to Alaska. I knew that Anchorage has its sleazy side but I had no idea about the activities described in this book although I do remember some of the characters and murders. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and recommend it.

I am a person who finishes a book of this length in a day. But this book I held onto for weeks. Such extraordinary courage and objectivity it must have taken to write this book. One should be proud. My Holiday Greetings to Kim Rich and her family.