About this book
‘I used to think the world divided between those who have children
and those who don’t; now I think it divides between those who’ve lost a parent and those whose parents are still alive.’
and those who don’t; now I think it divides between those who’ve lost a parent and those whose parents are still alive.’
This is a memoir about loss, love and death. It is also an unflinching attempt to answer the question: when was Dr Arthur Morrison - the man I recognize to be my father – fully and unequivocally himself? Was it the man seen through an eight-year-old’s eyes, jumping queues, doing deals, embarrassing his family? The man seen by a surly teenager – a sexual charmer, a mad inventor, a DIY enthusiast, a voracious parent? Or the man in pain on his death-bed, the charismatic GP reduced to a helpless patient? As it tries to answer these questions, the book takes its place alongside other classic studies of fathers, such as those by Edmund Gosse, J. R. Ackerley and Philip Roth.
First published in 1993, ‘And When Did You Last See Your Father?’ is a portrait of family life, father-son relationships and bereavement. It became a bestseller, was translated into several languages (including Japanese and Arabic), and inspired a whole genre of confessional memoirs. A new edition, with an afterword by the author, was published in 2006.
And when did you last see your father? won the Waterstone's/Volvo/Esquire Award for Non-Fiction and the JR Ackerley Prize for Autobiography 1993.
The 3rd anniversary of my dad's passing was a couple weeks ago so I imagine that was on my mind to start with. And then, it could be that I worked on my family history project today stumbling through the parts that were giving me writers block.
I have different things written on various relatives and subjects but they're scattered here and there and I'm trying to consolidate and edit everything into one document. I like the cut, paste and edit part of writing but sometimes having to dig deep and write about topics that are sensitive can leave you drained. I suspect that's why I've been having troubles concentrating on the project. Normally, I can't wait to sit down and begin pounding on the keys.
I made progress today and I think I'm 'over the hump' so to speak. I'll go back and edit a lot of it again but I was anxious to at least get the basics down. The outline I'm following is from Bob Greene's book 'To our children's children'. The beginning is "Your Family and Ancestry."
Further topics are 'The House of Your Growing Up' (which I've already written about on my Leader blog and other places), and childhood, neighborhood, holidays, high school, college, entertainment, careers, romance, parenthood, favorites, food, moments from your adult life, politics and history, community, everyday life, habits, grandparenthood, vehicles, moods, looking back....it just goes on and on. What I like is that the book is broken down by questions so it's easier to actually get yourself writing in a particular direction.
It was a beautiful day and would have been ideal for bike riding but I never did get out there. I did manage to do a little weeding, however, and got the kitchen swept and mopped. I also got a pumpkin pie baked for tomorrow's dinner at Jenni's house.
Hunter, by the way, informed me that the "white round frosty circle" I mentioned a couple days ago on my back lawn is simply clover. Tomorrow I'm going to ride my bike and most likely work on a sewing project I'm doing. I found this book I had forgotten I had about making animal applique quilt designs.
Am hoping I get a phone call tomorrow saying I've won a prize in the duck derby. (I'm not holding my breath, though) Saw a goldfinch feeding at the hummingbird feeder this morning. I didn't think any birds would be interested in that stuff. Maybe I'll put a water feeder out front.
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