Books : My Grandfather's Son: A Memoir
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Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 921
EAN: 9780060565558
ISBN: 0060565551
Label: Harper
Manufacturer: Harper
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 304
Publication Date: October 01, 2007
Publisher: Harper
Release Date: October 01, 2007
Sales Rank: 10592
Studio: Harper
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Editorial Review:
Product Description:
Provocative, inspiring, and unflinchingly honest, My Grandfather's Son is the story of one of America's most remarkable and controversial leaders, Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas, told in his own words.
Thomas was born in rural Georgia on June 23, 1948, into a life marked by poverty and hunger. His parents divorced when Thomas was still a baby, and his father moved north to Philadelphia, leaving his young mother to raise him and his brother and sister on the ten dollars a week she earned as a maid. At age seven, Thomas and his six-year-old brother were sent to live with his mother's father, Myers Anderson, and her stepmother in their Savannah home. It was a move that would forever change Thomas's life.
His grandfather, whom he called "Daddy," was a black man with a strict work ethic, trying to raise a family in the years of Jim Crow. Thomas witnessed his grandparents' steadfastness despite injustices, their hopefulness despite bigotry, and their deep love for their country. His own quiet ambition would propel him to Holy Cross and Yale Law School, and eventually—despite a bitter, highly contested public confirmation—to the highest court in the land. In this candid and deeply moving memoir, a quintessential American tale of hardship and grit, Clarence Thomas recounts his astonishing journey for the first time, and pays homage to the man who made it possible.
Intimately and eloquently, Thomas speaks out, revealing the pieces of his life he holds dear, detailing the suffering and injustices he has overcome, including the acrimonious and polarizing Senate hearing involving a former aide, Anita Hill, and the depression and despair it created in his own life and the lives of those closest to him. My Grandfather's Son is the story of a determined man whose faith, courage, and perseverance inspired him to rise up against all odds and achieve his dreams.
Average Rating: 
Rating:  -
My Grandfather's Son is more than a memoir. It is one of the finest autobiographies ever penned. Moreover, how ironic it is that a man we associate with dispassionate objective reasoning could produce one of the most emotionally moving books imaginable. I was deeply moved by his narrative throughout. I once knew a man like the author's grandfather, Myers, and he too cast a shadow far greater than his physical size. Thomas's tale is infinitely believable as he failed to fully appreciate the one he called "Daddy" until after he passed. The lessons granddad taught are ones which should be internalized by children today and I'd recommend reading aloud to them passages from the early chapters as a means for inspiration. Myers was a master of the art of self-sufficiency and gave Clarence the mental fortitude to persevere in the face of incredible odds. Thomas's life is far more compelling than Barack Obama's and his last three chapters--"Approaching the Bench," "Invitation to a Lynching," and "Going to Meet the Man"--flow as if they were embedded in a movie. The sham of his last Senate confirmation, as an associate justice of the Supreme Court, was horrifying both in retrospect and while it occurred. The leftist activist groups and their Congressional minions tried to subject him to a "high-tech lynching" but he stood up to their menace. In my opinion, Clarence Thomas is a hero of the highest order and may be remembered as one of the finest justices in history. As of right now, My Grandfather's ... Read More
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Folks who like and dislike the justice should read this book with an open mind. They might gain a new appreciation for their own circumstances. It was most informative and enlightening.
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My Grandfather's Son could be renamed the Book of Lamentations. Justice Thomas laments about alleged slights, slurs, and hurts that he faced most of his life- "to suffer old hurts, endure old pain, and revisit old doubts. At times, I was surprised by how fresh my feelings still were." He writes as if he is the only person who was ever teased as a child. The first forty plus pages reflect a childhood of insults. The situations don't get better as his life evolves.
Many years before the confirmation hearing, people are disrespecting Thomas. One would think that he was born with a scarlet letter on his forehead. It's incredulous that a man nearly 60 years old, who triumphed during a contentious confirmation hearing to be appointed to a life-time job, and correctly predicted that he would outlive some of his most ardent critics, would present himself as the quintessential victim.
Thomas is so absorbed with his victimization that the book dishonors his grandfather. He isn't presented as a sympathetic or nurturing person. Rather, he is simply among many people who were mean to Thomas. Perhaps, this meanness contributed to his anger. He can't get a handle on his anger. It seems that neither God nor Dick, the quadriplegic colleague during Thomas's stint in the Office of Missouri's Attorney General, can influence Thomas to tame it, although he credits both with helping him to get rid of his anger.
Anger is the pervasive tenor of the book. It's uncanny because ... Read More
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Clarence Thomas is a man who has succeeded because of his intellect, astonishing work ethic, persistence, drive, and faith. In his memoir, My Grandfather's Son, he details the life that these qualities created. The fact that he seems to not be bitter is testament to his personal faith and integrity. I picked up the book knowing very little about Thomas' life before the infamous confirmation hearings. Everything that happened before than is vastly more interesting. The section on his youth and upbringing by his grandparents made me cringe at times, simply because his grandfather seemed so driven to push his "sons". However, what is truly remarkable is how Thomas looks back at this strict upbringing and does not whine about how his grandparents raised him, or on the things he missed out. Rather he looks back and realizes the positives, accepts the negatives, and acknowledges the fact that all of these things helped make him the person he is. This memoir is not flashy diary revelations, and narcissistic prose, but rather an honest and heartfelt look back on the highs and lows of an interesting (and historic) life.
Many of the detractors of this memoir attack it because of Thomas' personal views. That speaks poorly of them. In the often dry world of autobiography, this text reads quickly, and easily. Thomas does not try to vaunt his considerable intelligence by writing over his audience's heads, nor does he wash over his own failings. Honesty and readability in a memoir. It is refreshing ... Read More
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Although I don't often read autobiographies, a dear friend gave me her copy of "My Grandfather's Son" and suggested that I would enjoy it. Though I am old enough to remember the general facts of Clarence Thomas's appointment to the bench, I never really had an interest in the politics or the man embroiled in them. However, his story is both interesting and educational.
Clarence Thomas has a clear recollection of his tumultuous life from living in a shack near a swamp through college activism to political intrigues. He not only narrates the details of his own life; he realizes that his life is a whole. He illustrates the connections between incidents in his life with an understanding light. Though racism was a formative part of his life, he demonstrates the strength that comes from meeting the challenge. As politics continues to be more dominated by whining, I am thankful for the story of a man facing the challenge of integrity, failing, and learning to be a better man by incorporating the difficult lessons taught by life and by a loving grandfather.
Reprinted with permission from http://naturalfamilylife.blogspot.com
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