Family: American Writers Remember Their Own

Collected here by the Fiffers, who previously collaborated on Home: American Writers Remember Rooms of Their Own, are 18 short original pieces by authors who recall family members who have had an impact on their lives. These essays, written from diverse cultural perspectives, are refreshingly free from sentimentality and present fully rounded human beings, with the exception of Whitney Otto (How to Make an American Quilt), who movingly describes her relationship with her cat. Writing in her grandmother's voice, Alice Hoffman (Second Nature) recounts the humorous and useful advice she received from this down-to-earth woman. Included also is a haunting account of the life and death of his mother by Chang-Rae Lee (Native Speaker), the story of Edwidge Danticat's (Krik? Krak!) hardworking father, who supports his family by driving a gypsy cab, and a memoir of his difficult and eccentric father by Geoffrey Wolff (Age of Consent). Photos not seen by PW. (Nov.)