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Messages from My Father - by Calvin Trillin (Paperback)

Messages from My Father - by  Calvin Trillin (Paperback) - 1 of 1
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About this item

Highlights

  • Calvin Trillin, the celebrated New Yorker writer, offers a rich and engaging biography of his father, as well as a literate and entertaining fanfare for the common (and decent, and hard-working) man.
  • About the Author: Calvin Trillin has been writing for The New Yorker for over 30 years.
  • 128 Pages
  • Biography + Autobiography, Editors, Journalists, Publishers

Description



Book Synopsis



Calvin Trillin, the celebrated New Yorker writer, offers a rich and engaging biography of his father, as well as a literate and entertaining fanfare for the common (and decent, and hard-working) man.

Abe Trillin had the western Missouri accent of someone who had grown up in St. Joseph and the dreams of America of someone who had been born is Russia. In Kansas City, he was a grocer, at least until he swore off the grocery business. He was given to swearing off things--coffee, tobacco, alcohol, all neckties that were not yellow in color. Presumably he had also sworn off swearing, although he was a collector of curses, such as "May you have an injury that is not covered by workman's compensation." Although he had a strong vision of the sort of person he wanted his son to be, his explicit advice about how to behave didn't go beyond an almost lackadaisical "You might as well be a mensch." Somehow, though, Abe Trillin's messages got through clearly.

The author's unerring sense of the American character is everywhere apparent in this quietly powerful memoir, Messages from My Father.



From the Back Cover



"The man was stubborn", writes Calvin Trillin - the second most stubborn member of the Trillin family - to begin his fond, wry, and affecting memoir of his father. Abe Trillin had the western Missouri accent of someone who had grown up in St. Joseph and the dreams of America of someone who had been born is Russia. In Kansas City, he was a grocer, at least until he swore off the grocery business. He was given to swearing off things - coffee, tobacco, alcohol, all neckties that were not yellow in color. Presumably he had also sworn off swearing, although he was a collector of curses like "May you have an injury that is not covered by workman's compensation". Although he had a strong vision of the sort of person he wanted his son to be, his explicit advice about how to behave didn't go beyond an almost lackadaisical "You might as well be a mensch". Somehow, though, Abe Trillin's messages got through clearly. Fathers, sons, and admirers of Trillin's unerring sense of the American character will be entertained and touched by this quietly powerful memoir.



Review Quotes




"A sensitive, affectionate portrait . . . Thirty years after his death, Abe Trilinsky, mild-mannered Midwestern grocer, still looms large for his son." --The New York Times Book Review

"[This] gentle, straightforward book about love for a father is also about the way a father's life and words continue to influence a child's life and words, even after the father is gone and the child himself is a father . . . Abe [Trillin] would be proud." --The Washington Post




About the Author



Calvin Trillin has been writing for The New Yorker for over 30 years. His many books include Tepper Isn't Going Out, Travels with Alice, Remembering Denny, Family Man, The Tummy Trilogy, Deadline Poet, and Too Soon To Tell.

Dimensions (Overall): 8.4 Inches (H) x 5.4 Inches (W) x .4 Inches (D)
Weight: .4 Pounds
Suggested Age: 22 Years and Up
Number of Pages: 128
Genre: Biography + Autobiography
Sub-Genre: Editors, Journalists, Publishers
Publisher: Farrar, Strauss & Giroux-3pl
Format: Paperback
Author: Calvin Trillin
Language: English
Street Date: June 12, 1997
TCIN: 90807840
UPC: 9780374525088
Item Number (DPCI): 247-40-7385
Origin: Made in the USA or Imported
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Shipping details

Estimated ship dimensions: 0.4 inches length x 5.4 inches width x 8.4 inches height
Estimated ship weight: 0.4 pounds
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