In Somehow Form a Family, Earley writes about finding a place in a world without losing sight of where you came from.
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"A wonderful, probably mostly unheard of collection of essays/memoir with a wonderful title that I wished I had thought of for my book. Earley writes pointedly and poetically about the heartbreak of growing up in mostly normal family. "
— C. (4 out of 5 stars)
" this collection is not very good save for the first essay (the book's namesake) which is fantastic-a nostalgic, hilarious pop-culture drenched remembrance of childhood, it's a great essay and worth find the book just to read that one. "
— m.g., 8/29/2013" A wonderful, probably mostly unheard of collection of essays/memoir with a wonderful title that I wished I had thought of for my book. Earley writes pointedly and poetically about the heartbreak of growing up in mostly normal family. "
— C., 7/1/2013" Worth reading for the first essay alone. It's a knockout. "
— Anna, 4/20/2012" Re-reading this one. His new novel just released. Good stuff. "
— William, 11/17/2011" I read this my freshman year in college. I really enjoyed it. "
— Sarah, 9/20/2011" Read this book a few years back, saw that I gave it a 4-star on paperbackswap ("really liked it") but totally don't remember it. :-p So it must have been just okay, so I'm giving it a 2-star here. "
— Sandra, 6/30/2011" Tony Earley is SUCH a good writer. This collection of "personal essays" about his life is engaging and emotionally provoking (ie, laughter, tears, and in-between). Highly recommended. "
— Cindy, 4/3/2011" There were a couple of these short stories (specifically the airplane around the world one) that were incredibly boring. But, most of it I loved. "
— Kara, 3/29/2011" Funny and sad. Great writing. "
— Sage, 12/5/2010" I enjoyed these stories from Tony Earley's life. But, still, I liked "Jim the Boy" so much that I now have super-high expectations for Mr. Earley. "
— Sharri, 12/5/2010" The stories were too formulaic. They didn't need that last preachy paragraph that tied the story (sometimes very weakly) into some grander scheme. He gets wonderful reviews as an author (so says the dust jacket), so perhaps I will try out the novel. "
— Erwin, 7/31/2010" Fun little collection of short stories! =) "
— Julie, 4/21/2010" Worth reading for the first essay alone. It's a knockout. "
— Anna, 3/28/2010" Read this book a few years back, saw that I gave it a 4-star on paperbackswap ("really liked it") but totally don't remember it. :-p So it must have been just okay, so I'm giving it a 2-star here. "
— Sandra, 2/11/2010" Tony Earley is SUCH a good writer. This collection of "personal essays" about his life is engaging and emotionally provoking (ie, laughter, tears, and in-between). Highly recommended. <br/> "
— Cindy, 4/20/2009" There were a couple of these short stories (specifically the airplane around the world one) that were incredibly boring. But, most of it I loved. "
— Kara, 1/30/2009" Not quite as heartwarming as I had hoped, but it had moments of amusement and insight. I particularly liked the essay on <em>The Quare Gene</em> simply because dialects interest me so much. <br/> <br/> <br/>Talk about titles to give you an earworm! "
— bookczuk, 1/3/2009" this collection is not very good save for the first essay (the book's namesake) which is fantastic-a nostalgic, hilarious pop-culture drenched remembrance of childhood, it's a great essay and worth find the book just to read that one. "
— m.g., 8/21/2008" I read this my freshman year in college. I really enjoyed it. "
— Sarah, 4/16/2008" Re-reading this one. His new novel just released. Good stuff. "
— Bill, 3/12/2008" The stories were too formulaic. They didn't need that last preachy paragraph that tied the story (sometimes very weakly) into some grander scheme. He gets wonderful reviews as an author (so says the dust jacket), so perhaps I will try out the novel. "
— Erwin, 5/24/2007Tony Earley is the author of Here We Are in Paradise, a collection of stories; the novel Jim the Boy; the personal essay collection Somehow Form a Family; and the novel The Blue Star. A winner of a National Magazine Award for fiction, he was named one of the twenty best writers of his generation by both Granta, in 1996, and the New Yorker, in 1999. His works have appeared in Harper’s, Esquire, the New Yorker, the Oxford American, the New York Times Book Review, Tin House, Best American Short Stories, New Stories from the South, and many other magazines and anthologies. He is a native of western North Carolina and a graduate of Warren Wilson College and the University of Alabama. He lives in Nashville, Tennessee, with his wife and daughter, where he is the Samuel Milton Fleming associate professor of English at Vanderbilt University.