Suburban Bigamy: Six Miles Between Truth and Deceit

by Michael S Zimmerman

In this thrilling memoir, Suburban Six Miles Between Truth and Deceit , author Michael S. Zimmerman chronicles the painful story of two families built on one lie, forever linked through betrayal, infidelity, and bigamy. Then, after hitting rock bottom, Mike becomes a father of his own, and soon discovers something more powerful than the a story of resilience, recovery, and hope. "A frightening story intelligently told, one that exposes the frailty of even people's most pedestrian certainties. An engrossing work about the explosiveness of secrets exposed." -Kirkus Reviews

Genres: Autobiography

196 pages, Hardcover

Published January 17, 2023

Reviews

[Henrietta P Featherstone · Rating 1 out of 5]

Lmao so my dad went to elementary school w Michael Zimmerman (the author), who posted on fb about this book (author's father led a double life with a secret second family that author didn't know about til recently aka when the author was a fully fledged adult), so ofc I had to grab a copy bc WHAT THE FUCK and yes it really is a thrilling "what the fuck is going on" story. I actually cannot believe this is real, idk if I should laugh or cry...

[Laurie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Do not waste a second reading this. If I could rate it a zero, I would. While the story should be fascinating, the writing is so terrible and disorganized that reading the book becomes unbearable.
I sympathize with the author and his family but this is one to skip.

[Debbie Glickman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was the most expertly written book — No. But the story is absolutely crazy and it happened so close to where I grew up and currently live. After I closed my mouth from saying what in the actual #%^*, I felt so badly for all of the kids involved in this crazy mess. A very quick read.

[Gail Benedetto · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story is amazing so it kept me reading until the end, but it could have been better written. Lots of errors like it was not proofread and the author repeated his same thoughts and feelings way too many times. I gave if a 4 instead of a 3 because I live in this area so it was a local story, which made it more interesting for me, knowing the places in the story and all.

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating and thrilling memoir! Wow! Remarkable story about heartbreaking family trauma, resilience, and recovery. Wonderful story of hope.

[Ranjini Shankar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three stars just because the story is shocking and I knew all the locations and this happened close to home. It’s frankly, very poorly written, poorly paced and painful to read at times (because of how it’s written, not the content). Once you read the first few chapters you can skim the rest and not really have missed much.

This tells the story of the author, Mike, who discovers after 40 years that his father is a bigamist with two families just 6 miles apart in Illinois. He goes through all the ways in which his father tricked them all and the aftermath.

It is eye opening how long the deceit goes on for and you feel bad for the author. However there’s too much filler for what should have just been a long form article.

[Csg721 · Rating 5 out of 5]

heartbreaking but ultimately, uplifting

This is a hard story to read but engrossing, none the less. I live in Winnetka, not far the Zimmerman childhood home. What he lived through is something no one can imagine, yet it went on for years and impacted two families. Credit goes to his mother for helping to offset the sociopathic behavior of his father and the terrible portrait he paints of the other family explains why that sect of the family is so cruel and vindictive. Great read.

[Lori · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was interesting for a couple of chapters, especially because I grew up on the North Shore. The story of a father living 2 completely separate lives would have been WAY more interesting if we could have heard the story of the "other" life, as well, but instead, we only hear about his legitimate family from the man's son. The other family refuses to talk to him. There are a lot of unanswered questions as the author meanders into reminisces of his father and defending his love for him. This could have just been an essay.

[Aynah Askanas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Suburban Bigamy is a son’s fascinating and heartbreaking story of paternal duplicity--a betrayal by a beloved father. The book is an excellent read about a type of family dysfunction that is not often talked about, a father’s double life, but is probably more common than people think. And I loved how the author, Michael Zimmerman, learned from his father, as a negative example, to become ten times the husband and father he ever was.

[Bethlferg · Rating 1 out of 5]

Poorly written, but I made myself finish. I wonder if the author was hoping to monetize his personal growth journey. I'm glad he came through this family deception and trauma so positively, but there is certainly a lot of wreckage wrought in the wake of his father's lifelong decision making.

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Terrific memoir! Emotionally moving book. I really couldn’t put it down. The author shows an amazing vulnerability and strength.

[Cynthia Judkins · Rating 3 out of 5]

Had to read this given the author was a year ahead of me in HS and lived in my neighborhood. Fascinating story, although it's obvious he is no writer.

[Cindy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Definitely a wild and sordid story. Local connection made it that much more compelling. However could’ve used some serious editing/writing help.

[Debbie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hard to follow poorly written even if story interesting

[Tracy Sommer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although this book wasn’t very well written, the story is crazy. Two families living just miles apart while the dad tries to juggle his secret family.

[Samantha · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story was really interesting, but this is probably the worst writing I have encountered. The author could have used an editor at some point.