Miss American Pie: A Diary of Love, Secrets, and Growing Up in the 1970s

I hesitate to review this book only because I'm not sure I can do justice with words and explain just how much I loved the book. The author writes in the introduction that "there are two times in your life when you stand a chance of creating your own personal universe through the sheer power of imagination, adolescence and middle age." She then proceeds to open doors that help you better understand both periods. I'm from the North and from the 70's but I suspect you can be from anywhere on the planet at anytime and still carry away something good from this unique and wonderful book

From the first word, I felt like I was the author of Miss American Pie. Margaret Sartors' diary had pieces of my own. The seventies were a great time to grow up, even with all the experimentations, most of us did grow up to be happy. I'm glad to have read this book and hope to read more of her books.

As a New York transplant who grew up in the deep south I find myself transfixed and a little heartbroken by this absolutely wonderful book. Margaret Sartor's account of her teenage years spent in the town of Montgomery, Louisiana made me miss something I thought I had escaped... home. Sartor's descriptions of romance and family are alternatly hilarious and heartbreaking. Miss American Pie ALMOST makes me want to relive my adolescence! But, as Sartor seems to have done, I would pay more attention the second time around. Read this book!

In the pages of Miss American Pie, Margaret Sartor allows the reader to craw inside her head and feel the comical, quixotic and paradoxically, angst-filled, and analytical reflections of her life and her richly-described family and friends. Growing up in the same era with a simlar family, I was transported back to my own adolescence. However, growing up in a very different environment, many of Margaret's experiences were as surreal to me as life on Mars. Through this book, I re-evaluated my priorities, my belief systems, and my notions on what is right and wrong. Just as importantly, I had a heck of an enjoyable ride all the way through. So, when is the movie coming out?

Margaret Sartor is a native of Monroe, Louisiana, who graduated from high school in 1977 and then went off into the world. She is a respected photographer who teaches at Duke University. Now Sartor has published a memoir of an unusual sort. MISS AMERICAN PIE consists of Sartor's diaries from ages 12 to 18. In the midst of the kind of teenage angst that is common to most of us, Sartor was able to turn her budding artist's eye on herself and those around her. The result is a memoir that takes us beyond the everyday, into a mind that is bright and intelligent, questioning the world around her even as she tries to fit in. Full of self-awareness and keen observation, MISS AMERICAN PIE is the story of one girl's journey into adulthood, but in some ways it is the story of us all.