Cutty, One Rock: The Dog, The Family: A Household Tale

August Kleinzahler lived a very interesting and odd childhood. His life was filled with a group of unconventional people and events. One can immediately tell that this will be a humorous and interesting tale when it opens with the line, “I was raised by the dog”. His unique upbringing was a direct result from his eccentric parents. With both of them often gone, August was initially raised by his Eastern European nanny. This resulted in August being in possession of a “Kafka” accent. After that phase of his life ended he was raised almost solely by his dog named Grand. As a result of this, August was said to have looked like his dog.

What made August Kleinzahler’s upbringing significantly different from the average child was not the fact that he was brought up by figures other than his parents, it was the way that they raised him. His parents appeared to care how young August turned out, but not how he was raised. This resulted in a humorous and unconventional raising. The hilarity is resulting in August’s dry wit and light-hearted outlook on life. Despite the obvious flaws in parenting during his childhood, I think that Klenizahler turned out all right.

The Glass Castle

In Jeanette Walls’ memoir The Glass Castle, the author does a good job of establishing a tone and allowing the reader to understand the situation. The contrast that she provides is an excellent way of introducing conflict and adding character to the story. The beginning of the piece gives the reader a vibe that Ms. Wells’ tale will be that of an upper class woman in New York City. When Ms. Wells’ mother is introduced, then the story truly begins. The tone set is that of conflicting ideas and lifestyles. And you, as the reader, are immediately on side with the plot.

Wells demonstrates a masterful use of diction. Each word is chosen carefully and cleverly to truly represent what she is trying to say. She uses simple metaphors to implant a picture into the readers mind, and then goes on in great detail about certain occurrences. As a writer, using diction well is a skill that takes years of practice and although Ms. Wells is only on her second book, she demonstrates that she is a natural. Her masterful use of diction truly enhances the story and the characters inside of it.