My Childhood in Pieces: A Stand-Up Comedy, a Skokie Elegy

In this eccentric memoir, poet and MacArthur fellow Hirsch (Stranger by Night) shares memories of his Illinois upbringing in fragmentary bursts. The first entry, “All Sales Are Final,” is a quote from Hirsch’s grandfather: “God is like my old boss on Maxwell Street. You may get home and discover that your new shirt doesn’t have a back, but you’re still not going to get a refund.” It’s followed by brief entries about all four of Hirsch’s grandparents, then discursive anecdotes about his parents’ childhoods. Readers should know by this point whether they’re willing to go along for the ride: the rest of the book moves along similar lines, juxtaposing witticisms (“A watched kettle never boils. An unwatched kettle blows its top”) with more concrete bits of narrative—about Hirsch’s mother falling out with her friends, his father serving in the Army in Guam, and his days playing football, basketball, and baseball—that form a mosaic of the author’s coming-of-age among a large Jewish family in the 1950s and ’60s. Those who prize linearity and concrete detail might be left wanting, but poetry fans and more adventurous readers will be rewarded by this evocative family portrait. Photos. Agent: Liz Darhansoff, Darhansoff & Verrill Literary. (June)