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Liked It “Wonderful story of an unfettered childhood. Simply loved the vignette about Annie going outside to play and coming home with interesting things and her mother shooing her politely away because her parents were having a discussion over coffee, leaving Annie free to explore. Annie's inquisitive...” see full review » see other reviews » |
Didn’t Like It “I couldn't get very far before I got bored. There's no story, just anecdotes that can go on and on, such as how many types of jokes the author's parents told. There's way too many paragraphs devoted to this topic and I found myself not caring.” see full review » see other reviews » |
Newest Reviews
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“Outstanding evocation of a child coming to consciousness. Perfect for those raised in the 50's.”
Julia G wrote this review Monday, September 21 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“Wonderful story of an unfettered childhood. Simply loved the vignette about Annie going outside to play and coming home with interesting things and her mother shooing her politely away because her parents were having a discussion over coffee, leaving Annie free to explore. Annie's inquisitive nature, the well-written passages about nature, and her descriptions of her parents and the relationships with her family members are exquisite.”
Donna wrote this review Saturday, August 22 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“I couldn't get very far before I got bored. There's no story, just anecdotes that can go on and on, such as how many types of jokes the author's parents told. There's way too many paragraphs devoted to this topic and I found myself not caring.”
Neli L wrote this review Saturday, July 25 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“I enjoyed reading this book though not as much as Pilgrim and Tinker Creek. Made me want to visit Pittsburgh and curious as to what the hell I did with all my free time as a child.”
Laryssa K wrote this review Thursday, June 11 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“I loved this book. It was my first dillard novel--what a great discovery!”
mark clark wrote this review Tuesday, April 7 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“An American Childhood is a book that I really didn’t enjoy; there was nothing in it that kept me interested in the book. The author just kept going into detail that I didn’t really want to hear about. Some things were interesting like the characters realization of the world outside her room and house, but the majority of the book was dull to me. I’m sure that Annie Dillard is a good author but I think that she put in too much detail in some places where it wasn’t needed and make it a turn off. I guess it also depend on the persons personality, there are other people that might disagree with me and say that this book was good and that there is nothing wrong with the amount of detail in it. This wasn’t a book from which you can really learn, you just get to read about another persons life, which for me is not an interesting story. ”
LILIYA B wrote this review Sunday, October 26 2008. ( reply | view 1 replies | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“ Annie Dillard, a Pulitzer Prize-winning American author, was born in April 30, 1945 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She has written eleven books, including the memoir of her parents, An American Childhood, and is best known for her narrative nonfiction. She has also published poetry, essays, autobiography and criticism.
Jade K wrote this review Tuesday, October 14 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
An American Childhood by Annie Dillard is an autobiography of her own life. Annie Dillard was born in 1945 in Pittsburgh to Frank and Pam Doak. And later in 1987, she published her autobiography, which lists all the events from 1950 to her adolescence. This book is not a day to day story of her life but rather a collection of the vivid memories of her childhood and how those enduring impressions they left on her mind shaped her later on.
In this novel, Dillard manages to change her ordinary experiences into extraordinary events, which makes novel interesting and grabs reader’s attention the most. Throughout each parts of the novel, readers can learn how Annie becomes a passionate, loving, independent young woman from a classic, childish, curious five-year-old girl.
Dillard’s imagery and writing technique is both poetic and rare at the same time. While the novel doesn’t have a plot, it takes the readers to a secret place and to those unspoken, puzzling feelings and imaginations that children have with such a descriptive word and details. Because children go through many of the same things in life like Dillard and think alike, it was fairly easy to relate to the book.
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“I found her writing to be dry and the time period difficult to relate to.”
Meg M wrote this review Saturday, July 5 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Annie Dillard is quite possibly one of the most observant human beings to ever walk the face of the Earth. And, she has an uncanny ability to put her observations into writing. Although technically a memoir, readers of this book will take away much more than an understanding of Dillard's childhood. A little bit of science, a little bit of history, a little bit of philosophy, make this book an enjoyable read. ”
sarah kay wrote this review Sunday, June 29 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
