Assembling My Father: A Daughter's Detective Story

by Anna Cypra Oliver

The daughter of a man who committed suicide at the age of thirty-five struggles to reconstruct her father using photographs, journal entries, and other artifacts, following the trail to Taos, New Mexico, where her parents' marriage fell apart and her father began his drug-fueled downward spiral.

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir

355 pages, Hardcover

First published August 5, 2004

Reviews

[Jennifer Larson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not much for memoirs, typically, but this one didn't give me the usual "why must you continue talking about yourself" reaction. Maybe because she was building her father's story as much or even more than telling her own, or because her family's journey was so unusual to me, or because it was such a unique time period, I don't know. But I found it more honest (which she manages without TMI), and less self-congratulatory, than many.

[Bookmarks Magazine]

Assembling My Father is not a conventional memoir. Oliver tells her father's story in bits and pieces, as widely varying as the possessions of his that she picks up during her quest. Some reviewers felt the work's haphazard organization suited its subject matter; others craved more structure, or found some elements of the collection less engaging than others. All agreed, however, that Oliver rendered her search for her father's identity with affection and bravery. The search for an absent parent is a well-worn topic, and Oliver deserves high praise for making it fresh.

This is an excerpt from a review published in Bookmarks magazine.

[Gail · Rating 5 out of 5]

A terrific book and very well written. The author writes about her father who shot himself when she was a young toddler. She never knew him.
I loved her writing style. All of the chapters are interspersed with small black and white photos of her father at odd angles.

[rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stellar memoir. Beautifully written, absolutely intriguing. Daughter of fundamentalist hippie finds herself in finding the history of her father, who committed suicide when she was a toddler.

[Tori · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the way the author mixed in photos, drawings, handwritten notes, etc. Close call between 3 and 4 stars.

[Pam]

07/08 rec via bookmooch

[Kathy · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was interesting only because I know the author's mother, who played a major role in the book. If not for that, I probably would not have read the whole thing.

[April Howie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good.