Download An American Childhood Audiobook

" It was okay but we had to read it for Honors English so....it wasn't very enjoyable to read (most assigned books aren't), but it was well written. "

" While Dillard does an excellent job painting a picture of childhood in a way that I strongly related to, for some reason I had a difficult time getting into this book. The lack of plot left me bored after a while. Beautiful descriptions, but I needed more than that to keep me involved. "

" This is my all-time favorite book. And not because it takes place in Pittsburgh. Because I love how it talks about awakening over and over through life. "

" This book was delightful! I randomly picked it up out of a box of books my cousin was giving away several months back, not knowing anything about it, and I am so glad that I did! I look forward to reading more Annie Dillard. "

" Stellar autobiography by a gifted writer and observer of life. "

" Absolutely lovely. Recommended. "

" It was amazing that Dillard was able to capture the innocence and wonder of childhood through the voice of a child, but with the grace of an adult. There wasn't a plot, it was more just someone telling their life story, which ordinarily would bother me, but in this case it didn't. Dillard's beautiful, poetic, articulate writing more than made up for what the story lacked in plot. "

" This was the perfect read for the beginning of summer. Annie Dillard chooses her words so carefully and in doing so constructs vivid images, memories, and little philosophical pearls. One of my favorite lines (one of many) in this book is: "Private life, book life, took place where words met imagination without passing through world." Then she goes on to talk about how as a child she would spend hours up in her bedroom, sometimes rereading the same passage over and over again. She captures the magic of childhood, the allure of the 1950s, and what it's like to grow-up and look back. "

" There were two paragraphs that totally sold this book for me. One was about how ugly adult hands are and one was about a dog who got distemper and had to be put down. THUMBS UP! "

" Annie Dillard is an amazing writer. You'll love these stories about her childhood. Her writing inspires others to investigate their own lives. "

" Read it in high school - I remember particularly the incredibly apt descriptions of the awakening of self-awareness. An enlightening book for triggering and empowering a person's (a teen's?) self-awareness. "

" Great writing about emerging self-hood and suburbia. Useful for teaching memoir (at least that's what I'm going to try to do with it) "

" I was born the same year as Dillard, so many of her childhood references brought back fond memories (Katy Keene comics, "The Wayward Wind," capguns, green stamps, the Cold War, spaghetti strap dresses, etc.) Her writing in this coming-of-age biography is amazing. "

" This is a book I read over and over again. "

" Wonderful, loved this one. Some of the best description of a childhood joy of reading i've read. highly recommended. "

" This book is the quintessential autobiography, I found there was someone else who felt odd and ill suited to childhood as it was supposed to be played out in the middle of the twentieth century. She is a master writer. "

" Her childhood wasn't more interesting than yours, but her memoirs certainly are. Annie Dillard, I love you. "

" She reminds me of how it felt to do thing for the first time as a child. Everyday activities become almost magical when seen from the other side of age... "

" This is what a memoir of childhood should be about and so few are - the dawning of consciousness, the process of becoming a person. It's rich with detail and although not fast-moving, very enjoyable to read. "

" One of my favorites - a classic. Reflective and intelligent writing. It is the author's memories of childhood summers. I have read it probably three times and will read it again and again... "

" It was only getting three stars until the epilogue - but then the epilogue nearly made me cry, so four stars it is. "

" This was a thought-provoking look at a budding writer's coming-of-age in Pittsburgh. Annie Dillard has a bit of scientist and artist in her. Great. A romp through childhood. "

" gorgeously written, a sweet, poignant story of a precocious, bright girl coming of age in Pittsburgh! "

" A wonderful memoir with evocative details--traces the shape of a writer's life from the inside out.
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" Hmmm. This is beautifully written. I enjoyed it...but I think it is to be savored at 40 versus skimmed at 17. I'm not sure how it will go over for 11th grade AP summer reading. All in all, glad I read it. She is one of my father's favorite authors. I can see why. "

" A brilliant autobiographical work. Poignantly innocent while surprisingly perceptive. "

" This was a thought-provoking look at a budding writer's coming-of-age in Pittsburgh. Annie Dillard has a bit of scientist and artist in her. Great. A romp through childhood. "

" As title implies, a memoir looking back at her childhood in Pittsburgh -- done in a bit of an unorthodox way -- sort of through snatches describing her feelings. "

" A great coming of age book. This was a big book for me in college but its been a while. "