The Bill From My Father

So, I have not actually posted on here yet, since the first day, because I have not had time. I am currently working on a paper and occupied with various activities associated with being a mom and a student. It just occurred to me, though, while I was doing some business in the bathroom, that I could use this blog as a way to explore some of my thoughts on the paper I am writing...sort of a public rough draft - in pieces. This will hopefully inspire me to 1) write on my blog, and 2) actually get some good work done on my paper (I am a master procrastinator). I can find a million things to do in order to avoid writing a paper, even though I love the process...there's just something about the pressure of a deadline that gets my juices going, and since this paper is technically not due until May, I am inclined to put it off. The reason I cannot afford to do that this time is because I will shortly be starting school again and will have another research paper along with a TA position in which I will have to grade assignments and prepare a lecture at the end of the semester. So, I really need to get this paper done! Gus, the baby boy living in my house, takes up enough time that I only have short spurts in which to write, so it's imperative that I get crackin! That said, here I go....I am re-reading The Bill From My Father, by Bernard Cooper, which I read last summer, but on which I took no notes at the time. This time, I am reading it for inclusion in my paper on memoirs written by American men at the turn of the 21st century (approx 1988-present). Preliminarily, I find Cooper's style to be self-effacing, almost apologetic. He is clearly wary of his father - even scared of him at times. His father is a demanding, eccentric, hard-headed ex-lawyer. Cooper is supposed to be writing a book about his father's life, but he winds up writing about his relationship with his father - which is good for me as that is the topic I am addressing in my paper - men's relationships with their fathers as told in their memoirs. Cooper is sort of in awe of his father, and longs for his father's approval, which is more of a common theme than anything else in the stories I am reading. However, he doesn't really like his dad that much, His dad is not really a good guy. He's selfish,philandering, conniving, and narcissistic. The guy has some major personality issues. Cooper wants badly to understand his father, but he doesn't get very far. His dad withholds the deepest, most real parts of himself from his son. It is not clear to me why this is so, but it is also one of the most common elements of these memoirs. I will keep exploring. Gus is calling, so ttfn!