Customer Reviews

Summer of Deliverance: A Memoir of Father and Son

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a wonderful book, painful and redemptive at the same time, plus interesting as hell. If you thought of James Dickey only as the author of Deliverance, we are made aware here of what a remarkable poet he was and how pathetically ill-equipped he was for fame, marriage or fatherhood. It's far more than just another story of wretched excess, though. Christopher Dickey writes extremely well and honestly about his father and his feelings for him, and at the end you kind of like the old man, which sure seemed impossible for much of the book. But how many of us, if we had his brilliance or prestige that he gained from it, would have been any better at resisting all the trappings that come along? I'm still thinking about this book long after I finished and the end, where James Dickey is quoted at length on what it means to be a poet, is spellbinding and inspirational, worth the price of the book and the time it took to get to the end.

Christopher Dickey's memoir of his relationship with his father has helped me to understand James Dickey, the artist, as never before. The book picks up steam about halfway through and *becomes* utterly compelling. (The last two sections are as moving as anything I've read in a long time.) In the beginning sections, though, I tired of watching the son invent ways of stating that his father imagined himself the God of poetry--and of all his world--and that for him the imagined life matched, even exceeded, the real in terms of its significance. It's true, no doubt, and tragic. But it becomes trite through so much repetition.

Anyone with a father can relate to this book. No one needs to live the horrors of alcoholism to identify with the unrelenting need to be loved by our parents, especially our fathers. Regardless of age,race,or financial status, we continuously seek the approval of our parents. And Christopher Dickey paints an honest portrayal of what it's like to trust,love,hate and endure our parents. His experiences stir our hearts as we identify with the pain a parent can inflict on us. As his story unfolds, we see a part of ourselves in him as he learns to put things into perspective and let go of the pain. Refreshingly honest,and poetically constructed, Christopher Dickey has a magical way with words that makes us better for having shared his, and our, life experiences. A timeless story,excellently written, and guaranteed not to be forgotton!

A difficult read. Like the House of Atreus, James Dickey caved into fate and tragedy while also famous. It is all too easy to blame drink, when what was really at the root of it all was character and genius meted out in unequal measures. This biography resembles "Long Day's Journey Into Night" but the nearness of the real-life characters and the unflinching AP-journalism style of Christopher Dickey's dual biography of himself and his father removes the comfort and distance of art in this engaging book.

Still, the pain and hope mixed here leaves something missing which I cannot quite identify. Perhaps it is the worn faux-Puritanism of partially blaming alcohol when irresponsible human behaviour is the true and fully and singularly guilty culprit. There are also some backhanded and unnecessary slurs levelled at the South that only the son of a prominent Southerner who has rejected his father and taken up with the attitudinal glad rags of snooty pseudo-elite would dish out. The tiresome implied superiority of the cosmopolite over those who actually embrace a nation, culture and heritage is so accepted today as know-nothing provincialism it is always given a pass, and Christopher Dickey falls into that trap.

Chris Dickey is a poet in journalist's clothing. His book about his father is engaging, touching, heart-wrenching and brutally honest, not to mention very well written. Growing up in the shadow of a famous parent dancing in and out of the limelight is particularly challenging, and while it may have many advantages, it also has its downside. Other children of writers have described the unique lifestyle they have enjoyed/endured. Susan Cheever, Hillary Masters come to mind. If one can survive such a childhood, usually a very unique individual emerges. Dickey talks about his father "making his head". The head of a poet can be a strange and wonderful thing. Judging from this book and Dickey's other books, his head has been well-made.

"Summer of Deliverance" is an eloquent and compelling work by the son of a remarkable (even sometimes brilliant) self-destructive poet. Christopher Dickey pulls no punches in this memoir about his relationship with his father, James Dickey, who died in 1997. Once a loving and focused parent, Dickey began a steady decline into alcoholism, half-truths, and embarassing showmanship after his first novel, DELIVERANCE, was made into a successful film, in 1971. All of Christopher's pain and heartache are here--everything from his father driving his first wife (Christopher's mother) to drink and an early death to the poet's frightening bout with alcoholic hepatitis in 1994. Christopher does a workmanlike job of dramatically organizing his assemblage of details and facts. And, to his credit, he accesses himself just as relentlessly as he does his father. Also, like his dad, Christopher has an uncanny eye for the poetic. Whether it is recalling lyrical lines of conversation with the elder Dickey or simply remembering poignant moments (e.g., when his father, frail and hooked to an oxygen machine, utters with heartfelt forthrightness, "Son--I do love you so much"), Christopher pens it so winningly right. Quibbles? I question his speaking so harshly about the University of South Carolina. For both USC and Dickey prospered by his tenure there. Still, with SUMMER OF DELIVERANCE, we have a clearer picture of both the frailties and the greatness of a legendary poet.

We've had many books from authors who grew up as the children of difficult, self-obsessed geniuses, but Christopher Dickey's memoir of his father, James Dickey, ranks at the very top. "Summer of Deliverance" has the ring of bitter truth, and Christopher Dickey is just as hard on himself as he is on his father; this isn't "Daddy Dearest," thank God. The chapters on the making of the film version of "Deliverance"--an abortive collaboration between father and son which ended when the father died--are both hair-raising and delicious. (I'm surprised Burt Reynolds hasn't sued!) "Summer of Deliverance" had the effect on me of making me want to go back and reread all of James Dickey's poems and novels immediately, as well as to check out Christopher Dickey's other books. I suspect most readers will have exactly the same reaction.

PW gives rave review, I agree,treatment will be scripted, Burt Reynolds will be involved. djhuber@eudoramail.com

Summer of Deliverance, written by James Dickey's son, Christopher Dickey, is a fascinating mix of biography and autobiography. It tells the story of a man who lived life to its fullest yet drank most of it away, and the son who struggled in his shadow.

James Dickey, while an accomplished and prolific Southern poet, will always be best known for his best selling novel, Deliverance. The novel, and its subsequent film adaptation, is the story of a fateful canoe trip taken by four suburban Atlanta men down a North Georgia river.

Born to a wealthy Atlanta family, Dickey spent his early career criss crossing the country with his wife, Maxine, and their two sons, taking several teaching positions along the way.

Dickey began to garner national recognition with his appointment as the Poetry Consultant to the Library of Congress, an honor second only to the Poet Laureate. He was commissioned to write and recite a poem for Jimmy Carter's presidential inauguration. Disappointed to learn that he would not be reciting it at the actual swearing in, a la Robert Frost at JFK's Inauguration, but rather at a televised gala the night before, he was barely able to recite the poem, after enjoying one too many beers backstage with Paul Newman before the show.

But it was the release of Deliverance that put him on the literary map. Deliverance was based on an earlier Dickey poem titled Springer Mountain. Chris Dickey spends a surprisingly short amount of time discussing the actual writing of the book, yet devotes four chapters to the filming of the movie. While James Dickey only made brief appearances on the set, including a cameo as the sheriff, Chris worked the entire shoot as a stand in. Colorful stories of Burt Reynolds' steady stream of female visitors, local inmates being used as film extras, and the unfriendly locals are well documented.

The success of Deliverance brought instant fame and fortune to Dickey, and to say that it went to his head would be a gross understatement. It fueled an already growing drinking problem, which led to marital infidelity and mental abuse of wife and sons.

Chris describes a father who could build you up to make you feel so special, only to tear you down with one of his drunken episodes. He dragged his wife down until she developed a drinking problem of her own, that she died from in 1976. Two months later, Dickey remarried a woman more than half his age.

Soon after, father and son ceased to communicate, an impasse that lasted 20 years. Chris became a respected journalist, covering the turmoil in Central America for The Washington Post, and is now the Paris Bureau Chief for Newsweek magazine. But his father's failing health drew brought him home to Columbia, South Carolina, to care for his father, and to try and begin a dialogue to help work through their problems.

During their time together, James was completely sober, and they spent a great deal of time talking about their lives. Slowly they began the healing process before James died.

Summer of Deliverance is a compelling study of the dichotomy of a public personal and the private reality. The result is a poignant story of forgiveness and understanding between father and son.

Perhaps the best memoir I've ever read, not just because the memories are so riveting or the writing so strong (though they are), but because it is a living testament to the importance of understanding other human beings, especially those closest to us, no matter how hurt or betrayed or infuriated we might be by them. It's also very wise about families, in all sorts of ways. It's rare to have, or take, a second chance at understanding your past. You have to be brave to jump in and look. Dickey is brave, and an excellent guide not just to his past but to the decades through which that past unfolded. Having said this, the book is entirely unsentimental (a good thing, I think). While it probably was (in part, anyway) a cathartic exercise for the author, it is never self-indulgent.