Praise for D R E A M I N G
"Without sensationalism, totally outside the chic-trash
mode, Carolyn See writes from way down inside the pain, the depression,
and the lies that encumber most American lives. She knows what
'family values' really are, and tells her story with a hard-earned
sweetness that transforms the unbearable into clear profit for
the reader's mind and heart."--URSULA K. LE GUIN
"I've always thought Carolyn See was one of the
most intelligent as well as funniest living writers, and Dreaming
is indeed brilliantly intelligent and terrifically funny."--ALICE
ADAMS
"Carolyn See, in her singular fashion, captures
a throw-away world. It is a class that is neither upper nor middle
nor under, simply there, alive with troubles. In so doing, she
tells as much about the United States as any commentator around
and about today."--STUDS TERKEL
"I read Dreaming with fascination. The inimitable
Carolyn See voice is linked now to some sort of historical and
familial (what a family!- families!) context."--JOYCE CAROL OATES
"The impact of Carolyn See's dreaming will likely
stay in the reader's memory as a singular ode to the human spirit."
--WILLIAM
F. BUCKLEY, JR.
"Carolyn See is battling the family demons that
grip America by the throat." --BEBE MOORE CAMPBELL
"Autobiography . . . elevated to literature." --JONATHAN
KELLERMAN "Dreaming is an unforgettable memoir that shimmers with
intelligence, wit, moxie, and a fiercely American spirit of survival.
I haven't laughed-or cried-so hard in years."
--ELIZABETH BENEDICT
"I am stunned and completely in awe of the honesty
and courage it must have taken to write this book. I would challenge
any man who ever dismissed women's writing as being too romantic
to read this book and ever feel the same way again." --FANNIE
FLAGG
From Publisher's Weekly - Publishers Weekly
Novelist See recalls the deeply dysfunctional family of alcoholics,
addicts, suicides and pornographers with sharp humor. (May)
From Library Journal
Without self-pity, novelist (Golden Days, LJ 9/15/86), English
professor (UCLA), and book critic See here offers a sobering account
of drug abuse in her family.
From Linda Gray Sexton - The New York Times Book Review
The literary shoreline is awash with memoirs written by women,
many of them survivors of some emotional or physical trauma. .
. . {This} is an especially absorbing example of the genre. .
. . An accomplished novelist, Ms. See brings to this memoir many
of the storytelling gifts that are evident in her fiction. . .
. But although her detached tone makes many of the horrifying
episodes in 'Dreaming' easier to read about, that same emotional
remove prevents Ms. See's readers from being as deeply affected
by her characters' defeats and victories as we might have been.
In spite of the narrative's effusively confiding tone, it does
not delve very far beneath the surface of events. . . . This is,
indisputably, a memoir that revels in a woman's point of view.
Ultimately,though, it reaches out to all Ms. See's readers with
its perception and wit.By the close of the book, we have come
to empathize not only with our heroine but with her extended family,
male and female alike.
From Lisa Alther - Women's Review of Books
Only a wry sense of humor saves this story from being unbearable.
. . . {It is a} fine example of the therapeutic power of the writing
process itself, which at its best can function as a kind of exploration
and exorcism that ultimately leads to healing
