Between Panic and Desire - (American Lives) by Dinty W Moore (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

"Insouciant" and "irreverent" are the sort of words that come up in reviews of Dinty W. Moore's books--and, invariably, "hilarious." Between Panic and Desire, named after two towns in Pennsylvania, finds Moore at the top of his astutely funny form. A book that could be named after one of its chapters, "A Post-Nixon, Post-panic, Post-modern, Post-mortem," this collection is an unconventional memoir of one man and his culture, which also happens to be our own. Blending narrative and quizzes, memory and numerology, and imagined interviews and conversations with dead presidents on TV, the book dizzily documents the disorienting experience of growing up in a postmodern world. Here we see how the major events in the author's early life--the Kennedy assassination, Nixon's resignation, watching Father Knows Best, and dropping acid atop the World Trade Center, to name a few--shaped the way he sees events both global and personal today. More to the point, we see how these events shaped, and possibly even distorted, today's world for all of us who spent our formative years in the '50s, '60s, and '70s. A curious meditation on family and bereavement, longing and fear, self-loathing and desire, Between Panic and Desire unfolds in kaleidoscopic forms--a coroner's report, a TV movie script, a Zen koan--aptly reflecting the emergence of a fractured virtual America.

Review Quotes

"Between Panic and Desire turns the memoir genre on its head as it deftly moves from essay to essay."--Peter Grandbois, Review of Contemporary Fiction

"From the outset it is clear that our author, a seasoned writer of creative nonfiction, is on a quest of discovery, understanding and forgiveness. His style of writing is engaging and the structure, intriguing in this fast-paced, quirky memoir that is deadly serious."--Sue Kreke Rumbaugh, Coal Hill Review-- (10/4/2011 12:00:00 AM)

"Between Panic and Desire is more autopsy than memoir--a strange new hybrid. It's a fantasy of letting go of the things that have haunted Moore his entire life. These things do, in fact, float off the pages."--Los Angeles Times-- (3/2/2008 12:00:00 AM)

"[A] quirky, entertaining joyride."--Publishers Weekly-- (12/10/2007 12:00:00 AM)

"Dinty W. Moore's prose is crisp and clean, his insights sparkle with biting clarity and magnetic charm. This is an unusual, joyful and compelling memoir."--Lee Gutkind, author of Almost Human: Making Robots Think and editor of Creative Nonfiction-- (7/18/2007 12:00:00 AM)

"In intertwined, wildly inventive essays . . . Moore conjures up his, and our, past from a grab-bag of elements. . . . He doesn't work through this crazy salad so much as play with it, using individual motifs as shiny mosaic stones to arrange in funny, intriguing shapes."--Athens News-- (3/6/2008 12:00:00 AM)

"Moore forges a brisk, incisive, funny, sometimes silly, yet stealthily affecting memoir in essays and skits, a 'generational autobiography, ' and good candid guy stuff. . . . Each anecdote, piece of pop-culture trivia, and frankly confessed panic and desire yields a chunk of irony and a sliver of wisdom."--Donna Seaman, Booklist -- (3/15/2008 12:00:00 AM)

"The writing is frequently very funny; insightful, too, especially Moore's belief that humans are generally delusional when it comes to their expectations vs. what is realistically possible. . . . The narrative has its poignant moments, particularly in Moore's recollections of his father. And despite his fractured take on the world, his message is essentially hopeful. Moore, it seems, is moving on."--Robert Kelly, Library Journal-- (3/1/2008 12:00:00 AM)

"This book is funny, funny, funny. It is an unconventional--some might say, experimental--collection of frolicsome and touching personal essays. . . . [T]he book is a rare example of how unusual form actually helps. It is the ideal display for Dinty's imagination. He daydreams. He fantasizes. He hallucinates. And this is nonfiction. For anyone who thinks the genre is nothing more than a retelling of facts, pick up a copy of Between Panic and Desire. . . . It is literary nonfiction with integrity. And it's fun."--Oxford Town-- (2/28/2008 12:00:00 AM)

"This is a refreshing and invigorating book, taking the predictable memoir form in new directions--playfully, sincerely, and intelligently. This is a terrific book."--Bret Lott, author of Jewel-- (7/18/2007 12:00:00 AM)

About the Author

Dinty W. Moore is a professor of English at Ohio University and the author of several books, including Dear Mister Essay Writer Guy: Advice and Confessions on Writing, Love, and Cannibals, The Truth of the Matter: Art and Craft in Creative Nonfiction, and The Accidental Buddhist: Mindfulness, Enlightenment, and Sitting Still.