Customer Reviews

The Territory of Men: A Memoir

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As a Sausalito native who just missed the 60's, I was eager to read Fraser's take on this little coastal tourist town full of folks a little too offbeat to stay put in nearby San Francisco. From the first page, I was stuck. Fraser's powers of pacing, description, and presence make the vignettes of 30-plus years fly on by. She seems appropriately confident in her ability to craft narrative-based scenarios that deliver years of significance. The best part? No vindictiveness. No self-righteousness. No exhausting self-analysis. Fraser hands us the gift of her paragraphs: forward-moving, heartfelt, and the product of a powerful wordsmith. I am already waiting for her next title.

Joelle Fraser has written an honest, poignant account of growing up on the fringes of adult counter-culture in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Though her childhood was different than most, it was still one of exploration and education, of conquering difficulties and facing emotions. Fraser writes well, with a strong sense of people and place as she drifts from northern California to the Oregon coast to Hawaii. Her book will strike a cord in a lot of people: It's a cultural story from a child's point of view, but also spans a life from childhood to adulthood. A great read!!

Joelle Fraser does what few memoir writers do -- share her experiences without too much introspection and "telling" the reader. It is, above all, an excellent read. I found myself in the range of emotion -- laughter, tears, sorrow, anger, healing -- as I read and nodded in agreement. This book will appeal not only to the women (now in our 30s) who grew up through the 60s and early 70s, but also to their mothers and fathers, their husbands and boyfriends (after all, it's important to know what makes these women tick -- they/we're from a generation unlike any other, and shaped by such powerful forces that stereotypes do not apply).

Fraser's detail of scene makes this somewhat voyeuristic book come to vivid life. She's lived in places people dream about -- Northern California, Hawaii, the mist-shrouded Oregon Coast. She's lived a life that many of us lived in various forms; it's dangerous and exciting, yet unpredictable and lacking any dependable structure. It's anything but safe. Yet she comes to a point at the end where the reader understands that she's near a kind of peace with -- of understanding -- of the forces that shaped her mother's and father's lives, and then her own. It is "coming of age" but not in a hokey or too-sentimental fashion.

Many of Territory's professional reviews have dealt with the heavier topics of the book: alcoholism, abuse, a scattered and often neglectful upbringing. Those are the hard truths and provide ample opportunity for discussion (my mother also read Territory of Men and loved it, cried for the little girl Joelle was and the little girl I was, and relived her own past through it), and we had several discussions as she completed some of the essays (notably "Robin's Story"). It's a book that I wish I had a larger group to discuss with -- a book club would be the ideal setting for further exploration of this book's themes. I've recommended it to several friends, male and female, older and younger.

It's a truly excellent read.

For any of us who experienced coming of age in the '60's and '70's, Joelle's Fraser's Territory of Men is likely to trigger the kind of nostalgic jolt usually reserved for reunion concerts and rediscovering love letters from an old flame. If you want to read something bland and factual, go to the dictionary. But for the unflinching revelation of even part of our own lives, not just the author's, read Fraser's book. Fraser's vignettes are NOT the self-absorbed rantings of a life unfulfilled, for this writer satisfies: she fleshes out the characters, colors the scenery, and energizes the moment...I swear I could hear the Mamas & the Papas singing California Dreamin'. I could see the trusting little blonde girl being lowered to her Aunt Kathy's Sausalito houseboat in a basket, feeling hopeful and loved.
Ultimately, this is a book about a life well-lived and the capacity of the human spirit for forgiveness (I won't tell you how or I'll spoil the final chapters).
If you are brave enough to take a look at your own experience of growing up as viewed through the eyes of a gifted writer, you must read Territory of Men.

So close, in fact, that I had to take some parts of it slowly, circling back to read more after coming up for air. Joelle Fraser writes with great clarity and humor, she writes incandescently, lighting up old memories and emotions, but most importantly, she writes with chutzpah--she's unswervingly honest. It takes talent to write a good book, and guts to write a real one about yourself, warts and all, and she's got both qualities in abundance. This book shook loose things in my own life I'd tried to forget; this book crawled under my skin and stuck with me. It's very, very good.

Joelle Fraser is a skilled and talented writer and this book proves it!!She had me in tears,laughing out loud and unable to stop reading even when it was too sad to go on. Her poignant memoir of her childhood moved me deeply.I could identify with both the mother and the daughter.And what woman has'nt struggled with her understanding of herself in relation to men.The book is a courageous look at who we are,based on our childhood experiences and who we can become if we prevail.I hope we will be hearing more from this author.

Joelle Fraser writes a very honest, sweet memoir that is a pleasant change from the usual brag memoir. She takes us on a journey through growing up and understanding ourselves and the ones we love. She allows us to see the painful as well as the pleasurable moments in that growth and I find this very refreshing. Also, being a lover of Hawai'i, I enjoyed the brief journey to that state as well!

In a world where people tend to hide their history in the sixties, this author (and her mother) had the guts to come forth with a very startling, but very readable memoir. For a first book, this author creates a visual portrait of episodes in her life. In one passage, you can actually see her and her father sharing the creative experience of making leis on a Hawaiian beach. I commend Joelle for her courage and her writing style. This is a must-read for anyone who experienced, lived or "stuck their heads in the sand" during the exciting sixties.

A well written and deeply moving account of a girl's remembrances of her different 'fathers' in her search for her own identity.

This will broaden your appreciation of what it means to grow up with little or no parental guidance during the height of the hippie movement.

Deeply moving.

I am so impressed with the quality of Ms. Fraser's writing. Her choice of words and phrases is crafted so beautifully that you want to continue reading simply for the sensual pleasure it provides. The subject matter is poignant, honest and personal to anyone who has experienced life in a broken family or has a history with an alcoholic family member. To everyone else, it is an eloquently written story that catches your heart and makes you appreciate the many people who may have contributed to your childhood. I have recommended this book to everyone I know.