Light while There Is Light: An American History by Keith Waldrop

Product Details

Library Journal

In this fictional memoir based on his own experiences, poet and author Waldrop ( The Opposite of Letting the Mind Wander , Lost Roads, 1990) explores the quest for meaning in life and that quest's impact on the members of an American family. His mother's religious fundamentalism provides the focal point around which the family's early life revolves. Later, as adults, neither of Waldrop's brothers nor his sister is able to shake off this influence, although the two brothers dabble in the occult. A deep sense of despair pervades this haunting memoir, due both to the family's financial insecurity and to the inability of any family members to find genuine meaning in their lives. Waldrop's stark, smooth prose captures in minute detail the trials and hopes of a family that cannot come to terms with life. Recommended for general collections.-- Elizabeth Salt, Otterbein Coll. Lib., Westerville, Ohio