An American Childhood

A book that instantly captured the hearts of readers across the country, An American Childhood is Pulitzer Prizewinning author Annie Dillards poignant, vivid memoir of growing up in Pittsburgh in the 1950s. Dillards luminous prose painlessly captures the pain of growing up in this wonderful evocation of childhood. Her memoir is partly a hymn to Pittsburgh, where orange streetcars ran on Penn Avenue in 1953 when she was eight, and where the Pirates were always in the cellar. Dillards mother, an unstoppable force, had energies too vast for the bridge games and household chores that stymied her. Her father made lowbudget horror movies, loved Dixieland jazz, told endless jokes and sightgags, and took lonesome river trips down to New Orleans to get away. From this slightly odd couple, Dillard acquired her love of nature and taut sensitivity.Publishers Weekly