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Scorekeeping: Essays from Home
In 1970 Esquire named the rural West Tennessee college town of Martin as one of the nine happy towns left in the United States. Bob Cowser, Jr., offers a dissenting opinion on this assessment of the bucolic environs of his youth in his collection of forthright reflections on boyhood in Martin and episodes in the other locations that have thus far constituted "home." Ranging in tone from confessional and contemplative to candid and comic, the pieces in Essays from Home form an exceptional mosaic of small-town life as witnessed by an introduced specimen―the son of English professors among insular townies with an unflinching eye and creative wit.
As Cowser leads us through his formative experiences in Martin and later New Orleans and Lincoln, Nebraska, he offers a balanced and inviting combination of episodes―of the regret inherent in his father's longrunning quest for a good BBQ sandwich and of too loosely interpreting Redbook's advice on attending high school reunions, of the abduction and murder of a classmate and of the revelation of a favorite uncle's AIDS-related death. Siblings, parents, schoolmates, and mentors form a richly realized constellation of figures around Cowser as he recalls the loves, losses, developments, and divergences that constitute coming of age in the rural American heartland of the late twentieth century.
The geographic location of home shifts, but Cowser's ties to family, community, and upbringing remain constants in the face of growth and change. The resulting essays map the rough-hewn formation of an adult identity and the development of the accepting hindsight required to reflect and keep score.
As Cowser leads us through his formative experiences in Martin and later New Orleans and Lincoln, Nebraska, he offers a balanced and inviting combination of episodes―of the regret inherent in his father's longrunning quest for a good BBQ sandwich and of too loosely interpreting Redbook's advice on attending high school reunions, of the abduction and murder of a classmate and of the revelation of a favorite uncle's AIDS-related death. Siblings, parents, schoolmates, and mentors form a richly realized constellation of figures around Cowser as he recalls the loves, losses, developments, and divergences that constitute coming of age in the rural American heartland of the late twentieth century.
The geographic location of home shifts, but Cowser's ties to family, community, and upbringing remain constants in the face of growth and change. The resulting essays map the rough-hewn formation of an adult identity and the development of the accepting hindsight required to reflect and keep score.
109 pages, Paperback
First published October 15, 2006
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
April 30, 2013
Very much enjoyed this book. He gets a little too philosophical for me at times but others might find that a nice touch. What I especially liked were the stories of family and growing up and just getting to adulthood. Stories we can all relate too!!
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May 17, 2009 "Belonging” is a curious thing; a topic Cowser re-examines in more detail under the scope of “home” in his autobiographical book of essays titled, Scorekeeping. In this second book, Cowser observes:
“It’s probably not that unusual to return to the homes of your childhood like they were historical sites or the scenes of some unsolved crime” (34).
Home as the historical site where we search for the veracity of memory—trying to remember what made it home, how we are related to its particular people. In Scorekeeping, Cowser explores the act of “belonging” through various means: family, friendships, sports, literature, and reunions. In both books, his stories are astute investigations into what makes us feel as though we are a part of, fit in, or have a place—in the home, the family, the team.
“It’s probably not that unusual to return to the homes of your childhood like they were historical sites or the scenes of some unsolved crime” (34).
Home as the historical site where we search for the veracity of memory—trying to remember what made it home, how we are related to its particular people. In Scorekeeping, Cowser explores the act of “belonging” through various means: family, friendships, sports, literature, and reunions. In both books, his stories are astute investigations into what makes us feel as though we are a part of, fit in, or have a place—in the home, the family, the team.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews