Research Catalog

Title

Love & Fury : a memoir / Richard Hoffman.

Author

Hoffman, Richard, 1949-

Publication

Boston : Beacon Press, [2014]

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

213 pages; 23 cm

Summary

• "An acclaimed author reflects on his upbringing in a post-World War II blue-collar family and comes to terms with the racism, sexism, and other toxic values he inherited. Love & Fury tells a story that comprises five generations of an American family, examining the continuing impact of history as it shapes the lives of people struggling with the complexities of contemporary life. From the author's grandfather, a "breaker boy" sent down into the anthracite mines of Pennsylvania at the age of ten, to his young grandson, whose father is among the estimated one million young black men incarcerated today, Love & Fury offers an examination of the social, familial, and ethical contours of American life. With honesty and compassion, Hoffman grapples with the values he inherited in his boomer-generation boyhood from a father whose ideas about masculinity, race, class, violence, women, and religion were a product of his time. At the book's core are the author's questions about boyhood, fatherhood, and grandfatherhood, and about what it means to be a good man in our modern society. A masterful memoirist, Hoffman writes not only to tell a gripping story but also to understand, through his family, the America in which we live"--
• "Love & Fury tells a story that comprises four generations of an American family, examining the continuing impact of history as it shapes the lives of people struggling with the complexities of contemporary life. At the book's core are the author's questions about boyhood, fatherhood, and grandfatherhood, and about the way we have absorbed and incorporated the compelling imagery of post WWII America and its values, especially regarding class, war, women, race, masculinity, violence, divinity, and wealth. Love & Fury draws connections between past and present, drawing from personal narrative an examination of the social, familial, and ethical contours of American life. From the author's grandfather, a "breaker boy" sent down into the anthracite mines of Pennsylvania at the age of 10, to his young grandson whose father is among the estimated million young black men incarcerated today, here is the complicated story of a 21st century American family. With deep insight into how we have been made, and how we might remake the future, Hoffman's inquiry into the consequences of brutality and violence, both personal and historic, helps define the work to be done, the work of being responsive and responsible, work that begins with knowing and embracing hard truths. It isn't pretty. But it is beautiful. "--

Alternative Title

Love and Fury

Subject

• Hoffman, Richard, 1949- > Family
• Authors, American > 21st century > Biography
• BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Personal Memoirs
• FAMILY & RELATIONSHIPS / Family Relationships
• SOCIAL SCIENCE / Men's Studies

Call Number

JFD 14-3671

ISBN

• 9780807044711 (hardback)
• 0807044717 (hardback)

LCCN

2013045470

OCLC

858126289

Author

Hoffman, Richard, 1949-

Title

Love & Fury : a memoir / Richard Hoffman.

Publisher

Boston : Beacon Press, [2014]

Type of Content

text

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

volume

Connect to:

Cover image

Research Call Number

JFD 14-3671