I had the good fortune to read this soon after reading The Lost, by Daniel Mendelsohn. I reccomend the combination to genealogy fans. ( )

I had the good fortune to read this soon after reading The Lost, by Daniel Mendelsohn. I reccomend the combination to genealogy fans. ( )

I had the good fortune to read this soon after reading The Lost, by Daniel Mendelsohn. I reccomend the combination to genealogy fans. ( )

Family history of the Sedgewicks - Edie, Kyra, starting with the Revolutionary War ones. After I read Edie by George Plimpton, in the 80s and became obsessed it, how could I not read this? ? He traces his family history, noting the depressive or manic depressive ones in each generation. The history stuff was interesting - I hadn't known about Shay's Rebellion - and the family dirt was good too, though the Plimpton book is better. ( )

I picked up this book mainly because I enjoy memoirs, particularly family memoirs. The author could have helped himself (and his readers) by reading some good examples of the genre in advance of writing his own book. The book lacks balance in its treatment of the six generations. For about the first third of the book, we are treated to exhaustive details about Generation One, both the private and public works of Theodore Sedgwick. John Adams he is not, yet it seemed as if the author would like us to make that comparison. I didn't mind learning about him, but at some point I wanted the author to move the book along.

John Sedgwick is a good writer, which saves the book from being terrible. The book has its moments, but too frequently I found myself not all that interested in what he had to say; too often Sedgwick, evidently not realizing he's doing it, comes across as a spoiled, rich-kid adolescent, whining about his tough life. I was glad when I finally got to the last page. There are many better first-person accounts about manic-depression and mental illness, so unless someone has a particular reason to read about the Sedgwicks, then I wouldn't recommend this book. ( )