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Kaufman's Hill: A Memoir by John Hampsey: Used

AlibrisBooks
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US $27.49
Approximately£20.24
Condition:
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eBay item number:403966034784
Last updated on 29 Mar, 2025 05:17:33 GMTView all revisionsView all revisions

Item specifics

Condition
Good: A book that has been read, but is in good condition. Minimal damage to the book cover eg. ...
Publication Date
2015-03-01
Pages
220
ISBN
9781610881531

About this product

Product Identifiers

Publisher
Bancroft Press
ISBN-10
1610881532
ISBN-13
9781610881531
eBay Product ID (ePID)
240394446

Product Key Features

Book Title
Kaufman&Apos;S Hill : a Memoir
Number of Pages
220 Pages
Language
English
Topic
General, Literary
Publication Year
2015
Illustrator
Yes
Genre
Biography & Autobiography
Author
John Hampsey
Format
Hardcover

Dimensions

Item Weight
16 Oz
Item Length
9 in
Item Width
6 in

Additional Product Features

Intended Audience
Trade
LCCN
2023-275558
Dewey Edition
23
Reviews
"Kaufman's Hill is among the most touching, sensitive, and spellbinding memoirs I've encountered in many years. Beautifully and exactly written, this book will surely reach into the hearts of its readers. I was deeply moved." - Tim O'Brien, novelist.
Dewey Decimal
813.54 [B]
Synopsis
A PROFOUND AND INTENSELY MOVING BOYHOOD MEMOIRKaufman s Hill opens with a prosaic neighborhood scene: The author and some other young boys are playing by the creek, one of their usual stomping grounds. But it soon becomes clear that much more is going on; the boy-narrator is struggling to find his way in a middle-class Catholic neighborhood dominated by the Creely bullies, who often terrify him. It s the Pittsburgh of the early and mid-1960s, a threshold time just before the counter-culture arrives, and a time when suburban society begins to encroach on Kaufman s Hill, the boy s sanctuary and the setting of many of his adventures. As the hill and the 1950s vanish into the twilight, so does the world of the narrator s boyhood. My pappy says if you re going to be afraid of everything, you may as well live in the sewer are the words that first open the narrator s eyes. And once he befriends the enigmatic, erratic, but charismatic Taddy Keegan, he becomes bolder and no longer lives in abject fear of the Creelys. The narrator s relationship with Taddy proves to be unconventional, though. Taddy, caught in his own imaginary universe, is often unaware of companions around him. The narrator focuses on uncovering the mystery of Taddy: Why does he live his life like he s a performer? Who is he really?The narrator s world is a mix of exhilarating freedom because of absent parents, teachers, and priests and imminent dangers. And his home life is problematic. The narrator observes his taciturn father as he copes with manic behaviors and cyclically repeating problems, while his mother struggles to better the life not just of her young son, but that of her African American cleaning woman in a time of racial animosity and racially-related urban violence. The boy watches his parents with eyes too young to truly understand, and is increasingly disappointed by an increasingly remote father who rarely speaks to him.As the narrator matures, his self-concept shifts within a widening world that includes disconcerting sexual experiences with public school girls, and his struggle to frame himself within the realm of the Catholic Church. He finds flaws with all but one religious figure, an aunt, who is a sublime and mystical presence in his life. The narrator joins sports teams that bring him back to the same kind of childhood friends he wanted to escape, and he questions whether he himself could act like a bully. When he begins high school, the narrator, at a dramatic moment, leaves boyhood behind, which might just include leaving Taddy Keegan behind as well.John C. Hampsey s Kaufman Hill is lyrical and profound. It captures the dynamics of the lost world of boyhood in a way no one has before. No wonder the late, great historian Howard Zinn called it the best book written on American boyhood in decades.", A PROFOUND AND INTENSELY MOVING BOYHOOD MEMOIRKaufman's Hill opens with a prosaic neighborhood scene: The author and some other young boys are playing by the creek, one of their usual stomping grounds. But it soon becomes clear that much more is going on; the boy-narrator is struggling to find his way in a middle-class Catholic neighborhood dominated by the Creely bullies, who often terrify him. It's the Pittsburgh of the early and mid-1960s, a threshold time just before the counter-culture arrives, and a time when suburban society begins to encroach on Kaufman's Hill, the boy's sanctuary and the setting of many of his adventures. As the hill and the 1950s vanish into the twilight, so does the world of the narrator's boyhood."My pappy says if you're going to be afraid of everything, you may as well live in the sewer" are the words that first open the narrator's eyes. And once he befriends the enigmatic, erratic, but charismatic Taddy Keegan, he becomes bolder and no longer lives in abject fear of the Creelys. The narrator's relationship with Taddy proves to be unconventional, though. Taddy, caught in his own imaginary universe, is often unaware of companions around him. The narrator focuses on uncovering the mystery of Taddy: Why does he live his life like he's a performer? Who is he really?The narrator's world is a mix of exhilarating freedom--because of absent parents, teachers, and priests--and imminent dangers. And his home life is problematic. The narrator observes his taciturn father as he copes with manic behaviors and cyclically repeating problems, while his mother struggles to better the life not just of her young son, but that of her African American cleaning woman in a time of racial animosity and racially-related urban violence. The boy watches his parents with eyes too young to truly understand, and is increasingly disappointed by an increasingly remote father who rarely speaks to him.As the narrator matures, his self-concept shifts within a widening world that includes disconcerting sexual experiences with public school girls, and his struggle to frame himself within the realm of the Catholic Church. He finds flaws with all but one religious figure, an aunt, who is a sublime and mystical presence in his life. The narrator joins sports teams that bring him back to the same kind of childhood "friends" he wanted to escape, and he questions whether he himself could act like a bully. When he begins high school, the narrator, at a dramatic moment, leaves boyhood behind, which might just include leaving Taddy Keegan behind as well.John C. Hampsey's Kaufman Hill is lyrical and profound. It captures the dynamics of the lost world of boyhood in a way no one has before. No wonder the late, great historian Howard Zinn called it "the best book written on American boyhood in decades."
LC Classification Number
F159.P653

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