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Darling Days
Darling Days: A Memoir | iO Tillett Wright
8 posts | 6 read | 1 reading | 9 to read
Unfolding in animated, crystalline prose, an emotionally raw, devastatingly powerful memoir of one young womans extraordinary coming of agea tale of gender and identity, freedom and addiction, rebellion and survival in the 1980s and 1990s, when punk, poverty, heroin, and art collided in the urban bohemia of New Yorks Lower East Side. Born into the beautiful bedlam of downtown New York in the 80s, iO Tillett Wright came of age at the intersection of punk, poverty, heroin, and art. This was a world of self-invented characters, glamorous superstars, and strung out sufferers, ground zero of drag and performance art. Still, no personality was more vibrant and formidable than her mother Rhonna, a showgirl and young widow, a mercurial, erratic Glamazon who was iOs fiercest defender and only authority in a world with few boundaries and even fewer indicators of normal life. At the center of Darling Days is the remarkable relationship between a fiery kid and her domineering Maa bond defined by freedom and control, excess and sacrifice, by heartbreaking deprivation, agonizing rupture and, ultimately, forgiveness. Darling Days is also a provocative examination of culture and identity, of the instincts that shape us and the norms that deform us, and of the courage and resilience of a child listening closely to her deepest self. When a group of boys refuse to let six-year-old iO play ball, she instantly adopts a new persona, becoming a boy named Ricky, a choice her parents support and celebrate. It is the start of a profound exploration of gender and identity through the tenderest years, and the beginning of a life invented and reinvented at every step. Alternating between the harrowing and the hilarious, Darling Days is the candid, tough, and stirring memoir of a young person in search of an authentic self as her family and home life devolve into chaos.
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squirrelbrain
Darling Days: A Memoir | iO Tillett Wright
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I saw this book in a bookshop and had to buy it, as it was set in New York. Well... I just hated it! I did finish it, but that‘s before I even started to think about bailing on books, with Litsy‘s encouragement!

#darlingdear
#augustABC

TrishB I‘ll be shouting bail from the sidelines..... 5y
Eggs 💗👏🏻📚🎈😊 5y
squirrelbrain I know you would @TrishB ! I‘ve bailed on a librarybook or two, and I think on a Kindle book, but can‘t think of a ‘new‘ purchased book that I‘ve given up with.... 😬 5y
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andreadmw
Darling Days: A Memoir | iO Tillett Wright
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Pickpick

Beautifully written, engaging memoir. Mother daughter relationship, picture of 80s subculture in NYC. How her relationship with her mother, and culture shaped her identity. Recommended.

BookishMarginalia Mmm... I might have to give this a try... 7y
andreadmw @BookishMarginalia I loved it, not that that it means anyone will, but I did. 7y
BookishMarginalia 👍🏼 7y
14 likes1 stack add3 comments
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Sarahsbookshelves
Darling Days: A Memoir | iO Tillett Wright
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Pickpick

Writing like this drew me into this gritty memoir of growing up poor on the NYC's Lower East Side in the 80's/early 90's. But, this unique writing sometimes morphed into the adjective-laden writing That drives me crazy, making for an uneven overall reading experience. Still iO's experience dealing w/ her erratic mother & gender & sexuality struck a chord.
#FirstLine: She said he gave her the little gun b/c it was classy & elegant, like her.

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ValerieColeYA
Darling Days: A Memoir | iO Tillett Wright

I just heard about this one on @bookriot 's All the Books podcast! Has anyone read it?

BookishMarginalia I perused it but just couldn't get into it. The style didn't attract me. 7y
8 likes1 comment
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shawnmooney
Darling Days: A Memoir | iO Tillett Wright
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RebeccaH Yep, it appeals to me :) 8y
28 likes1 comment
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Amanda1
Darling Days: A Memoir | iO Tillett Wright
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Amanda1
Darling Days: A Memoir | iO Tillett Wright
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Wow.