Jan Beatty
Author of Mad river
About the Author
Jan beatty's fourth full-length collection, The Switching/Yard, was named one of "30 New Books That Will Help You Rediscover Poetry" by Library Journal. The Huffing ton Post named her as one of ten women writers for "required reading." Her other books include Red Sugar, Boneshaker, and Mad River, show more winner of the Agnes Lynch Starrett Prize. Beatty is host and producer of Prosody on NPR affiliate WESA-FM, featuring the work of national writers. She is director of Creative Writing at Carlow University, where she runs the Madwomen in the Attic writing workshops and teaches in the MFA program. show less
Works by Jan Beatty
Associated Works
When She Named Fire: An Anthology of Contemporary Poetry by American Women (2008) — Contributor — 15 copies
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Birthdate
- 1952-11-27
- Gender
- female
- Organizations
- University of Pittsburgh
Carlow University - Nationality
- USA
- Associated Place (for map)
- USA
Members
Reviews
American Bastard by Jan Beatty is a hybrid memoir that, while being fully a memoir, uses more than straightforward prose to express that narrative.
One of the differences between a memoir and a biography, besides the obvious one of authorship, is one of relaying facts versus relaying feelings. Good books of both genres do some of both but a biographer is by definition a step removed when conveying the subject's feelings while a memoirist is the subject and can tap into the emotions far show more better. Do memoirs sometimes play a little loose with strict facts? Yes, in much the same way all of our memories do the same. But when reading a memoir how events are perceived is at least as important as any "facts." Since those emotions that were experienced are also facts.
I admit to being fairly ignorant about the details, both administratively and personally for those involved, surrounding adoption. A couple of my close friends from years ago were adopted and their experiences, at least that they shared with me, were almost polar opposites. Both had what would be considered loving adoptive parents but while one person seemed to be fine with how it worked out the other was far closer to how Beatty felt. So while I knew there was a spectrum of emotional response this book gave insight to a large portion of that spectrum.
Some readers may be put off by this not being a simple prose memoir, but if you read memoirs to better understand another human being's story from their perspective, and they feel that poetry helps them to express their ideas and thoughts, then the mix of style should be something you would welcome. If you just read memoirs to say you now "understand" someone, well, never mind.
Recommended for readers who want to learn what adoption is like for what is likely a large percentage. Like any group, there is a wide range of feeling but this speaks to a good part of it.
Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via Edelweiss. show less
One of the differences between a memoir and a biography, besides the obvious one of authorship, is one of relaying facts versus relaying feelings. Good books of both genres do some of both but a biographer is by definition a step removed when conveying the subject's feelings while a memoirist is the subject and can tap into the emotions far show more better. Do memoirs sometimes play a little loose with strict facts? Yes, in much the same way all of our memories do the same. But when reading a memoir how events are perceived is at least as important as any "facts." Since those emotions that were experienced are also facts.
I admit to being fairly ignorant about the details, both administratively and personally for those involved, surrounding adoption. A couple of my close friends from years ago were adopted and their experiences, at least that they shared with me, were almost polar opposites. Both had what would be considered loving adoptive parents but while one person seemed to be fine with how it worked out the other was far closer to how Beatty felt. So while I knew there was a spectrum of emotional response this book gave insight to a large portion of that spectrum.
Some readers may be put off by this not being a simple prose memoir, but if you read memoirs to better understand another human being's story from their perspective, and they feel that poetry helps them to express their ideas and thoughts, then the mix of style should be something you would welcome. If you just read memoirs to say you now "understand" someone, well, never mind.
Recommended for readers who want to learn what adoption is like for what is likely a large percentage. Like any group, there is a wide range of feeling but this speaks to a good part of it.
Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via Edelweiss. show less
She is a poet and a bad-ass. If you've not read Beatty, but like Mary Karr and Kim Addonizio, you have to pick up a volume of Beatty's work.
Awards
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Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 14
- Also by
- 6
- Members
- 166
- Popularity
- #127,844
- Rating
- 3.7
- Reviews
- 3
- ISBNs
- 24
- Favorited
- 1