by Chris Offutt
Atria BooksHardcover
The complicated relationships between fathers and sons are germinated seeds for many of the memoirs on the shelves of the world's bookstores. Frequent readers of this blog will already know that I lean toward memoirs which focus on this particular dynamic.
Chris Offutt's father, Andrew, also a writer, died in 2013 and Chris inherited nearly a ton of porn -- over 40 years of accumulated work by his dad, who had been referred to as the "king of twentieth-century smut".
For many years, Chris and his siblings were left mostly to their own pursuits, even as children, as his dad was hard focused on the writing. His mom served as typist, editor, and support staff for her husband after deciding it was the best of her options to keep the peace.
At first intending to compile a comprehensive bibliography of his dad's work , it is while going through this mountain of paperwork that Chris begins to understand the moody, brilliant, and controlling man who ruled over his early years. The cycle of emotions that Chris runs through while getting deeper and deeper into his dad's world was difficult for him. (It is not all spit and vinegar, however. Chris discovers and remembers a lot of good to go with the bad.) But, he expresses at one point that if he had known how difficult it would be that he wouldn't have done it.
It is a beautiful irony that while learning more about his father -- and his mother -- Chris learns in large part about himself. I can't speak for Chris Offutt but, as a middle-aged man myself, it was disconcerting when I found uncomfortable similarities between myself and my father. It is not an emotion that can be confused with comfort.
We are all products of our formative years, our environment, and our education. For many boys, our fathers loom large inside the men we ourselves become. The trick is learning how to live with it.
I highly recommend this book. I am certain it is much easier to read than it was to write.
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