Book Title: Up from Adams Street (a memoir) by Larry Crane
Category: Adult Non-Fiction (18 +), 229 pages
Genre: Memoir
Publisher: Maine Authors Publishing
Release date: July 2019
Content Rating: PG-13. Mild mature content. No bad language.
Larry Crane brings the sensibility of the post-World War II generation and a family of modest means to his fresh new novelesque memoir, Up From Adams Street. Born at home, surrounded by a neighborhood of immigrant families that burst out of the confines of Chicago to buy a lot carved out of the corn fields astride the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy rail line. As the confessed family favorite, he had a lot of expectations heaped on his shoulders, along with a sense that he was destined to fulfill that destiny. He realizes that participating in sports is a potential entrΓ©e into worlds that seem beyond his little world. Plus, he loves the games. He plays baseball, football and basketball. He caddies at golf courses. As he grows physically, he senses the need to expand mentally and philosophically too. A scholarship helps, then a surprise appointment to West Point follows. At the military academy, he bends to discipline, survives mandatory boxing, battles mighty Notre Dame in basketball, pitches against the legendary Yankees, conquers Mechanics of Fluids, and Calculus, discovers F. Scott Fitzgerald, befriends Red Reeder, falls in and out of love, turns 23, and becomes a man.
I love a story that brings a wistful air to the surface. I love an author’s voice that oozes with nostalgia. Even though I can’t put my finger on how, this memoir brings me back to my own childhood and coming-of-age and makes me sigh.
Up from Adams Street is a touching memoir that shows the struggles and redemptions of youth, sports, romance, and growing into oneself. I’m not that into sports, and read memoirs sparingly, but this one caught my interest and touched my heart. It shows that the happenings of our youth—both bad and good—shape us and propel us forward.
Modest. Candid. Selfless. These are just a few descriptions of the author’s writing personality and storytelling style. It isn’t often that I focus on the author when writing a review, but in the case of a memoir, it’s important, for the story is his own. Larry Crane is successful and sacrificing, and the road(s) he took to get to where he is makes this memoir inspiring.
I received a complimentary copy of this book.
Buy the Book:
Amazon
Add to Goodreads
Larry Crane spent the 1960s in a military setting, first at school at West Point, and as a lieutenant in Germany. He was an advisor to a Vietnamese ranger battalion in the Central Highlands. He took on a civilian career in brokerage and banking, retiring early to concentrate on writing, producing several full length plays most notable of which is Baghdad on the Wabash. Published fiction includes a thriller,A Bridge to Treachery, a mystery novel Missing Girls: In Truth Is Justice, and an anthology of short plays and stories, Baghdad on the Wabash and Other Plays and Stories. He lives with his wife Jan in splendid isolation on Southport Island, Maine.
connect with the author: website ~ twitter ~ facebook ~ pinterest ~ instagram ~ goodreads
Enter the Giveaway:
The cover caught my attention, and the blurb hooked me.
ReplyDelete