Reviews for Growing up

The average rating for Growing up based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2014-08-24 00:00:00 Jesse Ellis 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 Virginians; rural people. Education was not a family tradition, though Russell's mother always insisted that he "make something of himself." This man was a great storyteller. He makes ordinary life events seem so intriguing that you can hardly wait to turn the page and see what happens. Yes, he was charming and funny and self-effacing. I'm sorry that I missed his New York Times columns but I'm glad that I discovered this book, even at a late date.

Review # 2 was written on 2019-11-10 00:00:00 Bizertino Bizertino 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 so little. This may be exactly what Russell Baker was trying for - to invoke in his readers that which he felt, that maybe. . .just maybe. . . he should have thanked his mama a little bit more. . . . The writing is clear, with an easy view between those words to his life's career. It was mild and kept me interested because I'm old and like thinking of the past. I'm not sure this would be interesting enough to someone who wasn't like me (old, thinking of the past) or related to him or the environs in which he was raised. He is more of my parents' generation, and I'm not sure I even remember anything he wrote while alive or news providers for which he worked - we were a family that TV'd our news, and by the end of my father's life he was not a newpaper reader. Anyway - a good book for a reader of a certain age.