Reading My Mother Back
A Memoir in Childhood Animal Stories
Timothy C. Baker
- An
- innovative
- memoir
- connecting
- ideas
- of
- grief,
- memory,
- and
- animals
- to
- illustrate
- the
- importance
- of
- storytelling.When
- his
- mother
- died,
- Timothy
- C.
- Baker
- discovered
- that
- there
- was
- almost
- no
- record
- of
- her
- existence,
- and
- no
- stories
- that
- were
- his
- to
- tell:
- the
- only
- way
- to
- bring
- her
- back
- was
- through
- reading.
- Reading
- My
- Mother
- Back
- is
- a
- genre-bending
- memoir
- that
- explores
- a
- life
- marked
- by
- trauma,
- illness,
- religion,
- and
- abuse
- through
- a
- focus
- on
- the
- books
- Baker
- and
- his
- mother
- shared.
- The
- book
- combines
- accounts
- of
- rereading
- childhood
- classics
- with
- true
- and
- apocryphal
- stories
- of
- a
- quiet
- life,
- marked
- by
- great
- sorrow
- and
- great
- joy.
- The
- book
- is
- about
- grief
- and
- memory
- and
- how
- our
- childhood
- reading
- shapes
- the
- way
- we
- see
- the
- world;
- it’s
- about
- loneliness
- and
- the
- search
- for
- belonging;
- it’s
- about
- how
- ordinary
- lives
- are
- transfigured
- by
- storytelling.Moving
- from
- accounts
- of
- American
- evangelical
- communities
- to
- kidney
- failure,
- from
- literary
- criticism
- to
- psychoanalysis,
- and
- from
- guilt
- to
- love,
- Baker
- shows
- how
- literature
- provides
- a
- framework
- for
- understanding
- our
- experiences,
- and
- offers
- a
- way
- of
- connecting
- with
- everything
- we
- have
- lost.
- The
- book
- illustrates
- how
- children’s
- animal
- stories
- bring
- us
- into
- a
- love
- of
- the
- world,
- and
- how
- acts
- of
- rereading
- become
- a
- way
- not
- of
- assuaging
- grief,
- but
- of
- bringing
- the
- past
- and
- present
- together.
- Reading
- My
- Mother
- Back
- offers
- a
- bold
- and
- personal
- view
- of
- why
- the
- stories
- we
- read
- and
- share
- matter
- so
- much.
- And
- there
- are bunnies.
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