[EXN]⋙ [PDF] Gratis Change Me into Zeus Daughter A Memoir Barbara Robinette Moss 9780743202190 Books

Change Me into Zeus Daughter A Memoir Barbara Robinette Moss 9780743202190 Books

Download As PDF : Change Me into Zeus Daughter A Memoir Barbara Robinette Moss 9780743202190 Books

Change Me into Zeus Daughter A Memoir Barbara Robinette Moss 9780743202190 Books

I grew up in the same area as Ms Moss and everything she writes about is so familiar. It's a reminder to me that you never know what struggles your neighbors are going through. Her strength and determination to rise above her many obstacles is one of the most inspirational stories I have ever read.


Tags : Change Me into Zeus's Daughter: A Memoir [Barbara Robinette Moss] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. <I>Change Me into Zeus's Daughter</I> is a haunting and ultimately triumphant memoir about growing up poor and undaunted in the South. With an unflinching voice,Barbara Robinette Moss,Change Me into Zeus's Daughter: A Memoir,Touchtstone,0743202198,Adult children of alcoholics - United States,Moss, Barbara Robinette,Adult Children of Alcoholics,Alcohol Abuse,Autobiography: general,BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY General,BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY Literary Figures,Biography & Autobiography,Biography & Autobiography Women,Biography & Autobiography : Personal Memoirs,Biography & Autobiography : Women,Biography & AutobiographyLiterary Figures,Biography & AutobiographyPersonal Memoirs,Biography & AutobiographyWomen,Biography Autobiography,BiographyAutobiography,Biography: general,FAMILY & RELATIONSHIPS General,Family & RelationshipsGeneral,Personal Memoirs,Self-Help Adult Children of Substance Abusers,Women,Women In The U.S.,BIO000000,SEL003000

Change Me into Zeus Daughter A Memoir Barbara Robinette Moss 9780743202190 Books Reviews

A haunting, wonderfully written memoir about a girl growing up in extreme poverty in Alabama, in the 60s, with an alcoholic father and a mother who wouldn't-or couldn't-leave him. An amazing story that shows the power and bond of siblings. Also-that what we may wish for most our entire lives is not what we bargained for, or really wanted in the first place. I could barely put this book down-it reminded me very much of Angela's Ashes, as well as The Glass Castle.
Change Me into Zeus's Daughter is an examination of the author's youth, growing up verbally and physically abused by her alcoholic father, willing to eat poisoned corn kernels to satiate her endless hunger, and sharing a ramshackle home with her mom and eight siblings in rural Alabama.

Moss, with pitch perfect prose, describes a father who is gone more than around, which is mostly preferable given his propensity for inflicting pain

"I had just turned seven years and didn't think Dad's disappearance was such a bad thing; no more dishes shattering into the wall, no more whiskey breath and smell of urine, no more fear of being discovered, of having to peek into a room before entering to see if he was slumped in a chair waiting for you to walk within his reach.

"Now I've got ya," he would shout, like he had just caught a raccoon raiding the corn patch, pulling his leather belt from the loops as the unwary one struggled to get free. You didn't have to do anything - anything at all - to get pinched, poked, shoved or hit, just be where he could reach you when he was drunk. "You belong to me and I'll do with you what I want."

Unless, which often happened, he decided you didn't belong to him at all."

The whole awful time, Moss's mother, Dorris is pathologically, unconditionally devoted to her brutal, irresponsible husband. Her weakness makes her unable to protect her children from his drunken rampages, and his bizarre three in the morning routine of waking the kids up and demanding they clean the house - or else - inside and out.

To make matters even worse, Moss has to live with a face - a "Silly Putty-stretched face" - disfigured by malnutrition. Even so, to characterize Moss's memoir as all sad and hopeless would be far from right. There is humor and sweetness in her depictions of her siblings, who, despite the large number of them, are each distinctly drawn and indelibly stamped on the reader's mind. There are priceless anecdotes about other colorful family members or neighbors whose life stations, and psychological circumstances, are not far removed from the author's troubling childhood environment. Saddled with these extreme disadvantages - and some might argue because of them - Moss grows up to be a superb writer, and an accomplished artist.
*****
This book is the most beautiful memoir I've ever read and the one of the most memorable books I've ever read in my life. It is about the author's childhood in Alabama, about poverty, abuse, and alcoholism, but even more it is about love, family, and what is "normal". Despite the dark subject it is not a depressing book, but rather, a book of hope and love. I cannot imagine anyone having had a more troubled or abusive childhood than did the author, but the central theme of family love is what, most affects the family members and holds them together above all.

When you finish the book, you are really sorry, as you hate to see it end. Fortunately it continues with a second memoir about the author's life as an adult called "Fierce". Both are worth purchasing in hardback and rereading throughout your life; they are not books to be read once and then donated to a book sale.

It is not simply well-written, but it is so moving, honest, and matter-of-fact, that you really feel like you know and love all of the real people in the author's life. When I read "Alice"'s review (see above...Alice is the author's sister) I was so moved because I feel like I "know" her from the memoir. Of course I don't, but the memoir was that real.

I read this book as slowly as I could to make it last. It was just so good. I can't imagine anyone buying it and thinking they didn't get more than their money's worth, as it delivers on all levels---style of writing, suspense and plot, authenticity and transparency, the ability to draw you into the author's world.

"Fierce" takes place mostly after the author is an adult and leaves home although there are many flashbacks to childhood. "Change Me Into Zeus' Daughter" is about the author's childhood. I would buy both books together in hardback and save them forever to be read again and again.

*****
As soon as I began to read the first page of this book, it was hard to put it down. It is the true story of the the author. She grew up in a very poor family with an alcoholic father. She writes with honesty, humor and very matter of fact about her family life which is not always easy to do. Once I started reading her story, I did not want to put the book down. She is living proof that you can overcome those overwhelming obstacles of poverty, pick yourself up by your bootstraps, and find your way out. Don't pass this book up! This is a keeper for me.
This was a story recommended by a lady who had been the choir teacher at my daughters middle school. My daughter is now doing substitute teaching at the school where Mrs. K is teaching an elementary grade and she gets requested to be the sub and the two of them now share books. The story is very heart breaking at times as the father has issues with alcohol and anger and some of the kids ride the wave well and some do not.
I grew up in the same area as Ms Moss and everything she writes about is so familiar. It's a reminder to me that you never know what struggles your neighbors are going through. Her strength and determination to rise above her many obstacles is one of the most inspirational stories I have ever read.