TITLE: The Middle Place
AUTHOR: Kelly Corrigan
STARTED: May 27, 2010
FINISHED: June 1, 2010
PAGES: 266
GENRE: Memoir
FIRST SENTENCE: The thing you need to know about me is that I am George Corrigan's daughter, his only daughter.
SUMMARY: [From Amazon.com
] Newspaper columnist Corrigan was a happily married mother of two young daughters when she discovered a cancerous lump in her breast. She was still undergoing treatment when she learned that her beloved father, who'd already survived prostate cancer, now had bladder cancer. Corrigan's story could have been unbearably depressing had she not made it clear from the start that she came from sturdy stock. Growing up, she loved hearing her father boom out his morning HELLO WORLD dialogue with the universe, so his kids would feel like the world wasn't just a safe place but was even rooting for you. As Corrigan reports on her cancer treatment—the chemo, the surgery, the radiation—she weaves in the story of how it felt growing up in a big, suburban Philadelphia family with her larger-than-life father and her steady-loving mother and brothers. She tells how she met her husband, how she gave birth to her daughters. All these stories lead up to where she is now, in that middle place, being someone's child, but also having children of her own. Those learning to accept their own adulthood might find strength—and humor—in Corrigan's feisty memoir. THOUGHTS: When I first started this book, I was completely enthralled. It grabbed me immediately and I did not want to put it down. That feeling did not last. Corrigan's memoir is a remarkable story, one full or strong emotions. But the author shows her faults and they come to dominate the feeling of the book. Towards the end of The Middle Place, I found myself truly disliking Corrigan and wondering why the people in her life put up with her antics and drama.
If Corrigan gets one thing completely right, it is the emotional roller coaster that comes with life and the battle against cancer. On many of the pages, I felt like Corrigan was narrating her story directly to me. Everything in her opening pages felt real and scary. I freely admit that I gave myself a breast exam after I put the book down that first time. I think it would be hard for any woman not to check herself out after reading the pure terror expressed in Corrigan's opening pages.
Unfortunately, the rest of The Middle Place does not live up to the strong start. Corrigan bounces back and forth between "current" days and her past. This structure actually worked for me, but it was hard to maintain a mental timeline and emotional equilibrium of the subjects. This structure did allow the reader to understand just how much her father, Greenie, means to the author. At this same time, this means that Greenie is elevated on an untouchable pedestal and everyone and everything else in Corrigan's life is shafted to the second or third tier - including her mother, husband, children, and friends. While I too am a Daddy's Girl, it seems to me that Corrigan cares only about her father and no one else. Additionally, her tunnel vision of "making things better" makes Corrigan a hard person to like as the story progresses. The woman simply can't "be" she has to "do" even if those around her don't want her to meddle in their affairs.
Corrigan's story is at points touching and illustrative of the cancer experience. I find the book a decent but ultimately disappointing read. Corrigan could have taken so many avenues in this memoir, but her determination to show how awesome and important her father is left me wanting a different kind of story.
RATING: 6/10 [Good]
Comments