A post-World War II memoir of a childhood in working-class
Pittsburgh "Alongside August Wilson and John Edgar Wideman, Richard
Peterson is among the most evocative chroniclers of Pittsburgh,
their colorful hometown. I loved Growing Up With Clemente for both
its unnostalgic lyricism and its utter honesty." -David Maraniss,
author of Clemente: The Passion and Grace of Baseball's Last Hero
"Richard Peterson's memoir reminds you of Faulkner's assertion that
man will not merely endure, he will prevail. For that's what
Peterson has done, and he makes this story about the grandson of a
Lithuanian immigrant-this quintessential American story-new all
over again. It's vivid. Fascinating. Troubling. Sad. And finally
satisfying. A triumph both in the living and in the telling. I read
it in two sittings, fully in its thrall." -Kent Haruf, author of
Plainsong Pete Peterson's prose picks you up by the scruff of the
neck and the seat of the pants and pitches you deep into a place
and time that will hurry you back to your own coming of age. He is
Pittsburgh to the bone and his writing-trenchant, crisp and
painfully honest-reflects it. If you regard the place where you
grew up as special, this book is for you. I commend Growing Up With
Clemente to you with a writer's highest praise: I wish I'd written
it." -Phil Musick, is a veteran Pittsburgh journalist and author of
six books, including a biography of Roberto Clemente. "An engaging,
clear-eyed account of a working-class childhood in Pittsburgh, set
against the backdrop of Roberto Clemente's storied career with the
Pittsburgh Pirates. Peterson is forthright in his depiction of the
limited hopes and expectations of working-class kids in what was
then a toxic industrial landscape. Rich in period detail and sense
of place, Growing Up With Clemente is above all a book about memory
and about ambiguous memories nonetheless cherished, a revealing
excursion into a time now gone." -Laurie Graham, author of Singing
in the City: The Bonds of Home in an Industrial Landscape "I always
enjoy Pete Peterson's writing immensely. His prose is consistently
vivid, poignant, smart, and utterly without pretension. Growing Up
With Clemente is no exception." -Jeffrey Hammond, Reeves
Distinguished Professor in the Liberal Arts, St. Mary's College of
Maryland Growing Up With Clemente is a personal history of the
hardscrabble life of Pittsburgh's South Side during the city's
post-World War II renaissance. It is also the intimate story of an
American boy who played baseball on the city's dilapidated
playgrounds and rooted for his beloved sports teams while growing
up and struggling in Pittsburgh's blue-collar neighborhoods. Though
among the worst professional teams in the 1950s, the Pirates and
Steelers still inspired the working-class dream of a life beyond
the steel mills. And in the midst of it all was the towering,
isolated figure of Roberto Clemente. Clemente would eventually
become a symbol of pride, loyalty, courage, and sacrifice for a
city that had initially rejected him and for a young boy who spent
his youth looking for a hero but had to grow up before
understanding Clemente's greatness. With sensitivity and eloquence,
Richard Peterson captures a time and place easily overlooked or
forgotten but important to understanding the significance of sports
in shaping America's working-class character. Whether discussing
race, sex, class, or any of the other larger issues of the world in
which he grew up, Peterson conveys an honesty rarely found in
memoirs. Growing Up With Clemente is an engaging read, sure to be a
hit in both the literature and sports communities.
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