Growing Up

Name: Growing Up
Brand: Tantor Audio
Availability: InStock
Rating: 5 (1 reviews)
Author: Russell Baker
ISBN: 9781541482241

Author: Russell Baker

Narrator: Corey M. Snow

Unabridged: 8 hr 19 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 11/14/2017

Categories: Nonfiction, Biography & Autobiography

Synopsis

In this heartfelt memoir by the Masterpiece Theatre host, Pulitzer Prize winner, and groundbreaking New York Times columnist, Russell Baker traces his youth in the mountains of rural Virginia.

When Baker was only five, his father died. His mother, strong-willed and matriarchal, never looked back. After all, she had three children to raise. These were Depression years, and Mrs. Baker moved her fledgling family to Baltimore. Baker's mother was determined her children would succeed, and we know her regimen worked for Russell. He did everything from delivering papers to hustling subscriptions for the Saturday Evening Post. As is often the case, early hardships made the man.

About Russell Baker

Russell Baker has been charming readers for years with his astute political commentary and biting cerebral wit. The noted journalist, humorist, essayist, and biographer has written or edited numerous books, and was the author of the nationally syndicated "Observer" column for the New York Times from 1962 to 1998. Called by Robert Sherrill of the Washington Post Book World, "the supreme satirist of this half-century," Baker is most famous for turning the daily gossip of most newspapers into the stuff of laugh-out-loud literature.

Baker received his first Pulitzer Prize for distinguished commentary in 1979, in recognition of his "Observer" column. He received his second Pulitzer Prize in 1983 for his autobiography, Growing Up. In addition to his regular column and many books, Baker has also edited the anthologies The Norton Book of Light Verse and Russell Baker's Book of American Humor.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Florence on August 29, 2014

I found a paperback edition of this book, yellow with age. A note from my mother, age 97 and suffering from dementia fell out from between the pages. She said it was full of charm and humor and recommended it. She was right. Russell Baker had a hardscrabble childhood. His father's people were Virgin......more

Goodreads review by Moonkiszt on November 11, 2019

This reminded me of books my mom would read to my dad either on drives or quiet nights at home when everyone was settling in at home that hour or so before we all took ourselves to our beds. Full of family foibles and characters, I grew so homesick for my parents - who tried so hard and were thanked......more

Goodreads review by Jessica on February 10, 2007

I read this book in the 10th grade for a school project and fell in love. Funny, warm, witty--an absolute joy to read. Russel Baker is best known for writing a column in the NY Times called Poor Russel's Almanac, and Growing Up is a memoir about his own childhood growing up in 1930's America. He is......more

Goodreads review by Caren on September 12, 2017

For the solar eclipse last month, my family traveled to the friendly little town of Benton, KY, which was in the path of totality. I love to visit the public library wherever I may be, so that was our first stop. I was drawn like a magnet to a few shelves set aside for an ongoing book sale. Hardback......more

Goodreads review by Elle on September 22, 2011

If you are going to write an autobiography, it helps to live through an interesting time. Russell Baker did. He was born in 1925. He was a kid during the Great Depression. He was a young man during World War II. I cannot think of a sweeter set-up for a life full of stories. Yet nothing interesting e......more