Book · 1978 · American Novelists
A childhood, the biography of a place
Why people recommend it
A Childhood: The Biography of a Place by Harry Crews is a evocative and gritty memoir in which the author chronicles his formative early years growing up in a deeply impoverished, isolated farming community in rural Georgia. The book was discussed on The Book Review in July 2024 during an episode titled The Life and Times of Jann Wenner and Rolling Stone, where a guest featured it among their favorite memoirs, pointing out that the narrative primarily covers the first five or six years of Crews's life and captures the stark realities of his early upbringing in the American South. John Williams also discussed reading Crews's memoir on a separate July 2024 episode titled Inside The New York Times Book Review: I Contain Multitudes, mentioning that he had picked up the book after encountering a compelling review. Both participants reflected on the raw power of Crews's autobiographical writing, emphasizing his ability to evoke a harsh, vanished world with unflinching honesty, distinct regional flavor, and profound emotional resonance. Through these podcast conversations, the memoir is portrayed as an essential American classic that demonstrates how early landscape and brutal poverty shape a writer's voice, leaving a lasting impression on anyone interested in the complex intersections of memory, place, and autobiography.
Who recommended it
- John Williams Discussed
John Williams — 1 mention
“I have been reading a memoir by Southern writer named Harry Cruz called a childhood”
Mentioned on the show without a named speaker — 1
“yeah one of my favorite books on here which is a childhood by Harry Cruz I think only covers maybe the first five or six years of his life his early childhood at least”