Because I Was Flesh: The Autobiography of Edward Dahlberg

This is a remarkable book. While I thought the prose was uneven ... at times outstanding, at times merely recondite (that's one of Dahlberg's words) and at times strange, the underlying story is one of the most moving and beautiful around. The source of the beauty may be its honesty. Dahlberg refuses to be a victim or hate people who've done horrible things to him. (He's no chump, either.)It's a tough read, and you may need a dictionary on hand (I did), but a worthwhile experience.

The first time that I read this book, I really enjoyed it. The second time, I was overwhelmed by its richness and beauty. Dahlberg is able to awaken language with golden ideas of how he sees the world. The story, though painful at times is wonderfully executed. Dahlberg allows his reader to see life as Edward Dahlberg percieved it when he was a child, and then later as a grown man. He's definitely an author who has received little attention, though he deserves so much more. His work, though challenging is fulfilling. And though it is hard to locate, another work of his, "Can These Bones Live," is another wonderfully written work. He takes on all of the writers of his time, and tells them exactly what he thinks about them. Read! Read! Read!

Frank Gado at Union College introduced me to this book 15 years ago or so in a course on biographical literature. Dahlberg was a true prose master and the story he tells of his early life is so wrenching---particularly the last few pages... It seems a terrible shame that this author should be so comprehensively forgetten today. Read this book!