Don't use this book as an example for writing a term paper. John Edgar Wideman writes in a very creative style in Fatheralong (813.54 WID in the Biography section). Some people might be put off by his free assocation and run-on sentences. He writes openly, honestly what he feels.

At the time he wrote this, he was the same age as I am (52). That's the only similarity I could relate to.

I'm white. He's black.

My parents stayed together until my mother's death a few years ago (over 50 years). He grew up never really knowing his father. Wideman knew who his father was, but he spent little time with him. His parents had been divorced for about twenty years. Even before the divorce, he didn't know his father, since he wasn't around much. He was brought up by strong women - not men.

He has a brother in prison. I'm lucky - all of my siblings haven't seen that side of the bars.

Just because his life is completely different than mine doesn't mean I didn't get something out of this book.

He begins the book by accepting a trip with his father to South Carolina to reconnect with their heritage. Traveling with someone you know, but not well, who purposely stayed away from participating in the milestones in his child's life could be awkward. The trip allows the author to reflect on his life and his family's heritage - and get to know his father.

It's a powerful book; the author displays his anger at how blacks have been (and still are) treated. It's part history, part philosophy, part travelogue (like Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance).

I find it ironic that one of the towns they are trying to find is called Promised Land (no kidding).

After I began reading this book, I started researching the author and reading reviews of Fatheralong. It seems as though people either love it (so emotional) or hate it (so rambling, disjointed). I discovered that it's often a reading assignment in school.

Although it's used in schools, I'm sure it's not used for teaching proper grammar!

c Waterloo Public Library 2008