Elsewhere: A Memoir by Richard RussoMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
I picked this up randomly as someone had offloaded a bunch of Russo's works in a Little Free Library, and I read and enjoyed Empire Falls. While I'm not usually into memoirs, this is really a beautifully written remembrance of his mother. What makes it beautiful is its honesty. Russo steps back enough in the narrative that it almost reads like fiction--we watch love mixed with guilt and manipulation, with a complexity that I think most people will recognize. Russo also addresses ideas of "home" and how easily they can shift and change, but also how love-hate relationships form with places. It is also an unflinching look at the realities of mental illness in a relatable way, revealing how easy it is to enable and excuse with the best of intentions.
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