An American Childhood

After reading the stunning reviews about this book, I couldn't wait read it, but... Let me tell you, I do not understand why publishers choose the things they do to release to avid memoir-devourers like myself. Why this one, with few if any, interesting anecdotes. Why is it described as 'hilarious' and 'magnificent'? It makes me feel, as I have in the past, that the authors write their own reviews, or pay someone to put up favorable commentary on things that are extremely boring. Compare this to 'The Glass Castle', 'The End of the World as We Know it', or some of Sedaris' or Augusten Burroughs' work, and you may see what I mean. Yes, Dillard is observant, yes, she tends to have the ability to remember and analyze practically everything that her parents did or said, but, as her family wasn't even remotely interesting, the eidetic woman ends up boring us to tears. There are so many talented authors out there with manuscripts that we will never see due to the inner workings of what is apparently a complex pecking order of the most obscure kind. If this book improves greatly after an hour and 50 minutes, please let me know, otherwise I am stopping my ipod as of this dot. (.)