Why people recommend it
Priestdaddy by Patricia Lockwood is a sharply witty and unconventional memoir recounting the author's eccentric upbringing in the Midwest as the daughter of a married Catholic priest. On The Book Review, Jenny Schuessler noted that she had just started reading the poet's celebrated autobiographical work, while Greg Coles recommended the 2017 release for its singular perspective. John Williams repeatedly praised the memoir across several episodes, calling it a personal favorite and highlighting the vivid depiction of the author's family dynamics. Gilbert Cruz also included the title when discussing notable nonfiction books from that year. In a retrospective discussion about the best memoirs published since 1969, Dwight Garner and another guest focused on the book, singling out the central portrayal of the author's father as hysterically funny and unforgettable. The speakers uniformly celebrated Lockwood's distinct poetic voice, which infuses domestic strangehood with immense warmth and irreverent humor. Through these discussions, the podcast contributors underscored how the memoir balances sharp social observation with deep familial affection, cementing its status as a modern classic of comedic nonfiction.
Who recommended it
- John Williams Recommended
- Jenny Schuessler Recommended
- Greg Coles Recommended
- Dwight Garner Discussed
- Gilbert Cruz Recommended
John Williams — 3 mentions
“and then I'm continuing into Patricia Lockwood's priest daddy which I mentioned on the show last week which is her Memoir about growing up with her father in the Midwest and her mother and her sister”
“I'll be quick because I'm reading I finished priest daddy by Patricia Lockwood which I talked about the past couple of weeks and which I would still just highly recommend”
“her Memoir priest daddy is a favorite book of mine and she's also a very talented poet”
Jenny Schuessler — 1 mention
“I just started this week um the poet Patricia Lockwood's Memoir from Recently published called priest Daddy and it's about her time being raised uh in the midwest by her father who was a the rare uh married priest”
Greg Coles — 1 mention
“I'm reading a memoir called priest Daddy it's all one word priest daddy by the poet Patricia Lockwood that came out in 2017”
Dwight Garner — 1 mention
“I mean Patricia Lockwood's priest daddy which is one of my favorite books on this list is um just the portrait of her father in that book is Central to it and hysterically funny”
Gilbert Cruz — 1 mention
“and priest daddy by Patricia Lockwood”
Mentioned on the show without a named speaker — 1
“I mean Patricia Lockwood's priest daddy which is one of my favorite books on this list is um just the portrait of her father in that book is Central to it”
Also mentioned in the same episodes
Other mentions (2: passing, ad reads, own books)
“she's the author of a previous Memoir priest staddy and something of a Twitter performance artist”
“if you've read priest daddy her h I ious and Brilliant Memoir you know that she grew up in rectories across the Midwest with a priest father a very eccentric one”