Mama Said "a Memoir" eBook Peggy McClainBarr
Download As PDF : Mama Said "a Memoir" eBook Peggy McClainBarr 
Growing up in rural South Carolina in the 1950's and 60's.
Mama Said "a Memoir" eBook Peggy McClainBarr
I really wanted to like this book. When I saw it, I thought, "Oh, she grew up in South Carolina. I grew up in South Carolina. This could be good." And, it was free at the time. I was disappointed. I can only assume that this was a self-edited, self-published book. There was a fair amount of colloquial southern English. It wasn't enough to seem intentionally included to give a Southern flavour, it just came across as poor grammar and bad spelling (and I'm a Southerner). I'm always amazed that some people, like Ms. McClain-Barr, can remember so many details from their past -- I have a sister like that. But her recollections seemed jumbled. She jumped around a lot and often quite abruptly. It read like "stream of consciousness" writing -- whatever came to mind went down on paper -- one memory triggered another and there was little to connect the memories. Then, there seemed to be no effort to put the memories in any kind of order. There was no story; there was no point except to write down random memories. And, there were odd contradictions. For instance, at the end of the book she talks about her marriage to Ken. She said, "We had a marriage made in heaven. I am not kidding, it truly was." But, that marriage only lasted 5.5 years. Really? Made in heaven? Then, the book just ended abruptly: "We lived in that tiny trailer until Ken left for the navy. That was September 1969. The End." Granted, it was touted as being about growing up in the 50s and 60s and that was near the end of the 60s. Still....There was the rare tense moment -- the time she dove in the shallow end of the pool (apparently) and hit her head on the bottom. (But, come on, a 13 year old not realizing that one end of the pool was deeper than the other?) There were some funny moments -- singing "Love Me Tender" in the bathroom at the back of her 2nd grade classroom -- that was pretty funny! There was honesty -- how much she tried to make sure that she got her fair share of gifts. So, it wasn't a waste of time. A bit more effort to organize better, proof-reading to make sure that colloquialisms either added to the story or were edited out, some third party critique of style, etc. and this could have been a pretty good book.
ADDITION: As you can see below (at least I assume her comment is public), the author commented on my review. Knowing the context for the writing of the book changes the way I view how the book was written. This is exactly how one would tell one's grandchild stories of one's own growing up years. The stories would flow, one after another, without necessarily having direct connections between two stories. This is orality in print. Ms. McClain-Barr has given her grandson a wonderful treasure. We should all do the same -- if only my memory was as good as Ms. McClain-Barr's memory.
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Mama Said "a Memoir" eBook Peggy McClainBarr Reviews
The author has a great voice. Not an exciting, or thrilling book, but honest and matter of fact. Her words transport you to a small southern town in the 1950's. Completely believable.
This was a sweet book. I enjoyed the author's recollections, which are written in a conversational manner. So much so, I had a vivid picture in my mind of her tales as I read. Almost like I was watching a home movie.
a heartwarming story of growing up in the country. I found myself laughing and tearing up throughout this book. I liked how the story flowed like hearing a friend tell a story about their childhood.
Just a great book. I love reading memoirs. Reminds me of my youth. You won't be disappointed.. A great book.
Peggy tells it like it was - EXACTLY like it was! This book reads like she is telling you these stories in person. If you grew up in the South in the fifties and sixties, then you should appreciate and enjoy "Mama Said" - it will leave you wanting more! Let's hope she decides to write a sequel picking up where she left off!
You'll either love this book or hate it. If you're a grammar/spelling purist or if you're expecting earth-shaking events, better take a pass on this one. To me it's a valuable first-person account of a way of life that most people today will find unbelievable.
I also grew up in the Upper South (as opposed to the Deep South) during this time. My family was more educated, slightly more prosperous, and more "citified" than Peggy's. But when we got out into the country (which we did regularly since my father hunted and fished and the whole family camped) we were in a different world.
The experiences of children who lived in rural areas in the 1950's and 1960's were surprisingly similar to the lives of my parents growing up in the l920's and 1930's. Which is why this memoir is valuable to me, even though the writing is rough. I am glad that electronic publication makes books like this available. I wish it had been around to record the memoirs of my older relatives.
Although the author no doubt had good intentions in her desire to write down these memories for her grandchild(ren), the quality of this book is seriously lacking!
I am someone who reads a book to the end once I buy/acquire it whether I enjoy the book or not. (Perhaps hoping it will get better?) This book was no different -- I read through the very end. I found it difficult to enjoy the book because it is poorly written with regard to grammar, spelling and sentence structure; but mostly, it was boring and did not hold my attention. It is not a typical memoir but rather a series of short vignettes. It rather reminds me of those viewfinder toys where a child can view a cartoon by clicking through a series of shots on a card. You get mere glimpses as opposed to the true picture. I suppose for some, that would be enough but not for me.
This book was best left as a printed out keepsake for her family!
I really wanted to like this book. When I saw it, I thought, "Oh, she grew up in South Carolina. I grew up in South Carolina. This could be good." And, it was free at the time. I was disappointed. I can only assume that this was a self-edited, self-published book. There was a fair amount of colloquial southern English. It wasn't enough to seem intentionally included to give a Southern flavour, it just came across as poor grammar and bad spelling (and I'm a Southerner). I'm always amazed that some people, like Ms. McClain-Barr, can remember so many details from their past -- I have a sister like that. But her recollections seemed jumbled. She jumped around a lot and often quite abruptly. It read like "stream of consciousness" writing -- whatever came to mind went down on paper -- one memory triggered another and there was little to connect the memories. Then, there seemed to be no effort to put the memories in any kind of order. There was no story; there was no point except to write down random memories. And, there were odd contradictions. For instance, at the end of the book she talks about her marriage to Ken. She said, "We had a marriage made in heaven. I am not kidding, it truly was." But, that marriage only lasted 5.5 years. Really? Made in heaven? Then, the book just ended abruptly "We lived in that tiny trailer until Ken left for the navy. That was September 1969. The End." Granted, it was touted as being about growing up in the 50s and 60s and that was near the end of the 60s. Still....
There was the rare tense moment -- the time she dove in the shallow end of the pool (apparently) and hit her head on the bottom. (But, come on, a 13 year old not realizing that one end of the pool was deeper than the other?) There were some funny moments -- singing "Love Me Tender" in the bathroom at the back of her 2nd grade classroom -- that was pretty funny! There was honesty -- how much she tried to make sure that she got her fair share of gifts. So, it wasn't a waste of time. A bit more effort to organize better, proof-reading to make sure that colloquialisms either added to the story or were edited out, some third party critique of style, etc. and this could have been a pretty good book.
ADDITION As you can see below (at least I assume her comment is public), the author commented on my review. Knowing the context for the writing of the book changes the way I view how the book was written. This is exactly how one would tell one's grandchild stories of one's own growing up years. The stories would flow, one after another, without necessarily having direct connections between two stories. This is orality in print. Ms. McClain-Barr has given her grandson a wonderful treasure. We should all do the same -- if only my memory was as good as Ms. McClain-Barr's memory.
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