The Cracker Queen: A Memoir Of A Jagged, Joyful Life (2009) - Plot & Excerpts
I read this book because I enjoy Southern writers and their descriptions of life growing up in the South. These writers interest me because I grew up in the North and the contrasts are so great, and I am now a transplanted "southerner". I have read some wonderful books about life in the south, Rick Bragg's being my favorites, but this book just didn't hold the same appeal. There was something that came off as, almost, bragging, about the lifestyle that Hannon endured. The stories were very one dimensional and her definition of a cracker queen just didn't seem to hit the mark. The book was a quick read, but I didn't come away with any lasting impression. Not sure I would recommend this one, there are some wonderful authors out there who tell the story of growing up in the south in a much more thoughtful way. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this memoir, although early on I wondered how this woman could have possibly made it out of childhood alive. Ms Hannon tells her story with a great deal of humor, but without glossing over the more sordid details of life with an alcoholic mother who liked the fellows after the early death of her father. But survive she did and in the process saw her mother get clean and sober. A testament to the grit of the southern woman born without a spoon, let alone a silver one.
What do You think about The Cracker Queen: A Memoir Of A Jagged, Joyful Life (2009)?
Delightful. Poignant. Shocking. Funny. A must.
—nhonryan
