On a Saturday morning
Straight to the internet When I typed in 'Patricia Lockwood,' Wikipedia said: 'Patricia Lockwood (born 27 April 1982) is an American poet, novelist, and essayist. Her memoir Priestdaddy was named one of the 10 best books of 2017 by The New York Times Book Review.' That, you can imagine, had me searching the e-library for Priestdaddy. No. The real books? Yes, but not locally. I had to place a reserve. Then a short wait. But after three days or so, there on the reserves' shelves, 330 pages in a red cover. And the cover had my name sticker on it. What is it?Patricia Lockwood's father is a Catholic priest. How can that be? He found God while a seaman in a submarine. Then he found the Lutheran church. Then he found the ordained ministry in that church, Then he found Catholicism. Then he found a bishop, who, with dispensation from the Pope admitted him to the priesthood, accompanied by his wife and five children. So this memoir is the story of a girl growing up in, then escaping from, then returning for a few months to, a catholic rectory. But the girl is a poet, a lover of language, an acute observer, a wit, a fine intelligence and an honest active ego who likes to shock. This book is her story as she writes it. It's funny. Very funny (sometimes raunchy funny) but she raises issues about church, culture and world that bear serious thought. FeaturesIf you do read the book expect to find:
Allusive and cleverA few weeks ago (12 May) I discussed a memoir, the Glass Castle, by another American woman, Jeannette Walls. It is also a crazy story of an odd upbringing by eccentric parents. But there the similarity ends. The Walls book, a top favourite of the American public for several years, is a straightforward easy read. Priestdaddy is not. When reading The Glass Castle I didn't notice the writing because it was such a fluent, unobtrusive platform for the astounding and horrifying story. It was written by a journalist. Priestdaddy was written by a poet. The Priestdaddy prose is frequently allusive and littered with strange metaphors and similes or unusual juxtapositions. It takes a bit of unpuzzling and unpacking. I had to read some passages more than once. And sometimes I'd read a piece twice, just because it was so funny or so sad or so unfair. In this book I enjoyed the writing as much as the story. RedemptionSubtlely and disappointedly mocking, disdainful and dismissive, though never without love, is Lockwood's view of her father, but as the book nears its end, in a chapter called Power and Light, she gives him redemption – at least that's my word. Read this. 'What calls a person to a life-and-death job, a middle-of-the-night job, an edge-of-the-cliff job? My father lounged horizontal at home, and sent us up and down stairs to fetch for him, but when the call came at three in the morning, he was up and out the door without the smallest sigh or protest, to serve the unthinkable, to read the ritual words, to plump the pillow under its head. His Last Rites kit sat on the stairs just by the front door; a square plastic bottle of holy water and a smaller one of golden oil, called chrism, and a round metal box with a simple cross on top that held the host.' (Page 288) God is love. Beyond Priestdaddy
Here tooYes, Lockwood has been to Rotterdam, and many other places. She has also been to Wellington, where I live, to take part in an arts festival staged in venues around the waterfront. Did I go to hear her? No. I didn't even know about her then. But I know about her now and if she appears in Wellington again I'll be there. I might not like all she says but I want to hear it. □ John McInnes 18 June 2021 References: click the text Kim Hill interview with Patricia Lockwood about new novel No One Is Talking About This 17 April 2021 Kim Hill interview with Patricia Lockwood about Priestdaddy 17 February 2018 Book publication details: Priestdaddy by Patricia Lockwood – Riverhead Books, New York, 2017. ISBN 9781594633737 Picture credit Patricia Lockwood on Wellington waterfront: Vice (on the web) permission to use applied for. ##########
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