From Publishers Weekly
On the day of his father's funeral in 1969, Anderson, the longtime editor of Parade magazine and CEO of Parade Publications, asked his mother a question that had been on his mind for years: "The man we just buried... Was he my father?" She admitted Anderson's real father had been a Russian-Jewish man she fell in love with while her husband was fighting in WWII. Learning he was, in fact, not the son of the abusive, drunken man who'd raised him would change the course of Anderson's life, but he honored his mother's wish to keep her secret while his two siblings were alive. Thirty-four years later, his astonishingly honest account of his family history is bound to become a coming-of-age classic. Anderson's deft handling of his impoverished childhood in Mount Vernon, N.Y., bears no trace of self-pity. He doesn't gloss over the incessant beatings he suffered at home or the cruelty and taunting he endured on the streets, but he also manages to pay tribute to the neighborhood mother who took an interest in his education and the friends who stuck by his side. Although Anderson's account of his college years and early days in publishing are riveting, the pieces of his puzzle really fall into place when he finally tracks down his half-brother, Herbert Dorfman. The build-up to their first conversation is the stuff of blockbuster suspense and, when it finally happens, Dorfman says it all: "This is simply amazing."
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From AudioFile
MEANT TO BE is a captivating memoir by the editor of PARADE magazine. Read perfectly by George Guidall, the book is an inspiring story of self-discovery. Guidall uses a low-key approach that is particularly effective in scenes such as the one when, following the funeral of the man he thought was his father, Anderson learns that the man he buried was not his natural father--his actual father was a Russian-Jewish man his mother had fallen in love with while her husband was fighting in WWII. Anderson also chronicles his struggles to succeed as a writer and his search for his half-brother. Guidall's narration seems more understated than usual, perhaps because the material itself is so compelling. Regardless, Guidall's narration is the ideal complement to Anderson's riveting story. D.J.S. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine--
Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine
