A Few Seconds of Radiant Filmstrip
A Memoir of Seventh Grade

I had the pleasure of meeting author Kevin Brockmeier a couple summers ago, in the most idyllic setting imaginable for another literature loving native southerner. It was a literary cocktail party, nay a soirée, held in the shadow of William Faulkner’s home, Rowan Oak, in Oxford, MS. Sweaty fellow b......more

Loved the idea of this (a memoir of seventh grade -- who among us couldn't write a sad one?), and was willing to tolerate the concept that it's a memoir written in the third-person, but this really just never got going and kept running out of gas as it went. A lot of it was just boring. There's got......more

What an extraordinarily unique, moving memoir. He takes you back to his Seventh Grade experience. The language shines. The embarrassment cringes. Wow.......more

I know that successful memoirs don't deal with an entire life, but usually a small part or events tied together by a theme. Still, it's hard to believe that a whole book about a boy's seventh grade experience could be captivating. And yet this is. Partly because of Brockmeier's ability to capture ev......more