Priestdaddy
Book description
NEW STATESMAN AND OBSERVER BOOKS OF THE YEAR 2017
'Glorious' Sunday Times
'Laugh-out-loud funny' The Times
'Extraordinary' Observer
'Exceptional' Telegraph
'Electric' New York Times
'Snort-out-loud' Financial Times
'Dazzling' Guardian
'Do yourself a favour and read this memoir!' BookPage
The childhood of Patricia Lockwood, the poet dubbed' The Smutty-Metaphor Queen of…
Why read it?
3 authors picked Priestdaddy as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
The author’s chronicle of growing up the child of a married Catholic priest—who lives in his boxer shorts, plays ear-crushing electric guitar, worships action films, and once got arrested at an abortion clinic sit-in—somehow manages to be beautiful, cringe-inducing, jaw-dropping and absolutely hilarious at once. When circumstances force the author and her husband to move back in with her Priest-dad in her parents’ rectory, their worlds collide in an explosion of soulful, moving family madness. Woven through the entire saga are strains of love, faith, and the enduring, hysterical bonds of family.
From Jerry's list on turning insane personal history into entertainment.
Patricia Lockwood’s memoir about growing up as the daughter of a married Catholic priest contains some of the best comic lines I’ve ever read. I still quote it regularly. When Lockwood and her husband move back in with her parents following a medical situation, two improbable things ensue at once: piercing reflections on a religious upbringing in a deeply patriarchal household, and family portraiture rendered in slapstick-funny, laugh-out-loud scenes. Lockwood approaches the world of her parents, and of her childhood, with such a keen perception of every absurdity, no matter how passing or small. Nothing escapes her vision. I want…
From Tajja's list on that find the funny in an unjust world.
Not just a coming-of-age story, but definitely with elements of it, Patricia Lockwood’s memoir about growing up with a Catholic priest for a father is riotously funny and filled with some of the best descriptions and metaphors I’ve ever read. If you think Lockwood’s father being a priest is strange, that’s just the beginning of the wild, real characters—with scenes including her father playing electric guitar in his underwear in the rectory. And the book is filled with insights into family and writing and faith and health and all kinds of other subjects. I’ve recommended this to multiple friends and…
From Alexandra's list on unconventional coming-of-age with quirky settings.
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