  Jdkeepsmiling Member Username: Jdkeepsmiling Post Number: 317 Registered: 01-2006 |
I just wanted to share with everyone a book that I received for Christmas and have already read. It is titled "Made in Detroit" and is authored by Paul Clemens. It is a memoir of a sorts of a white ethnic Catholic growing up on the Eastside in the 70's, 80's and 90's. It is relatively recent, being publishes in 2006, and although I am neither a native Detroiter or Catholic, I found his account to be stirring and moving. Just wanted to recommend this to people on the forum, especially those proud Eastsiders! | ||
Melody Member Username: Melody Post Number: 29 Registered: 11-2007 |
I have that book, but I haven't read it yet. Thanks for the push! I also liked "Grosse Pointe Girl." It's more for younger readers, but it was a fun beach read, and a cute story about not being rich and growing up on the east side in the GP. | ||
Johnfromsaginaw Member Username: Johnfromsaginaw Post Number: 81 Registered: 10-2003 |
I have and have read "Made in Detroit" and second the recommendations for it. It was a real page turner even if, alas, one wasn't born or raised in Detroit. John Made in Saginaw | ||
Jdkeepsmiling Member Username: Jdkeepsmiling Post Number: 318 Registered: 01-2006 |
I guess I should add that I was made in Wyandotte | ||
Caldogven Member Username: Caldogven Post Number: 146 Registered: 05-2006 |
Jd - I have read the book many times! I grew up in that neighborhood in the forties and fifties and it brings back many happy memories. I knew some of the people he mentions. Times have changed! | ||
Mbshan Member Username: Mbshan Post Number: 10 Registered: 11-2007 |
middlesex is also a book taking place in detroit but a little earlier. i think it dates back to the 40's through the 70's? about a greek family that immigrates to detroit. it was one of oprahs book club choices. i enjoyed most of it. though i was disappointed with the ending. | ||
Detroitrise Member Username: Detroitrise Post Number: 1218 Registered: 09-2007 |
There may have been several Archive/Hall of Frame Threads that talked about this book. Maybe one fo the older members could provide you guys with the link. | ||
Jimaz Member Username: Jimaz Post Number: 4153 Registered: 12-2005 |
There are some other threads mentioned in Discuss Detroit » Archives - Beginning January 2007 » Made In Detroit Book - Anyone Read? | ||
Adamjab19 Member Username: Adamjab19 Post Number: 818 Registered: 11-2003 |
I posted some of my best typed posts in one of the archives of this book! Hah!  | ||
Kathleen Member Username: Kathleen Post Number: 2673 Registered: 10-2003 |
Here's a link to our past discussion on Jeffrey Eugenides' Middlesex: https://www.atdetroit.net/forum/mes sages/76017/85083.html?1162416 759 | ||
Reddog289 Member Username: Reddog289 Post Number: 156 Registered: 08-2007 |
i think that is one of the books i wanted to read yet haven,t yet. the info i read sounds like the eastside version of me staying with my grandparents in the 70,s and 80,s. | ||
Jjw Member Username: Jjw Post Number: 507 Registered: 10-2005 |
I have read, "Made in Detroit" and was sadly not impressed with it at all. I will leave it at that rather than critique it. | ||
Caldogven Member Username: Caldogven Post Number: 147 Registered: 05-2006 |
Sorry about my last post - I was thing of a different book. I didn't care for Made in Detroit | ||
Kellyroad Member Username: Kellyroad Post Number: 177 Registered: 04-2007 |
Read Made in Detroit last year...In my opinion a great read. Of course I can relate vividly to what Paul Clemens described...St. Jude Church, Heilmann field, Notre Dame HS, the six and gratiot area, the 8 and Kelly area. were all part of my childhood. Although Paul's generation is almost a generation younger his description of changes on the far east side I can relate to rather poignantly... I left the neighborhood in the late 70s but my folks were still there into the 90s. His wrestling with catholicism and analogies with modern day authors provided the only lull in the book (but not a major distraction). I might even do a re-read | ||
Dannyv Member Username: Dannyv Post Number: 62 Registered: 08-2007 |
I read Made In Detroit and found it forthright in what Mr. Clemens had to report but incomplete in his experience. He went exclusively to Catholic schools which limited his experience and exposure to the general school population of Detroit. | ||
Jerome81 Member Username: Jerome81 Post Number: 1672 Registered: 11-2003 |
Liked it but it fell apart at the end when he went kinda philosophical (sp??) with the whole thing. | ||
Newport1128 Member Username: Newport1128 Post Number: 155 Registered: 05-2007 |
Dannyv, Clemens' book is subtitled "A South of 8 Mile Memoir", it wasn't supposed to a social history of the city or its schools. If someone who attended DPS wants to write their own memoir, I say let them have at it. Clemens wrote about what he knows - his own experience growing up. I personally found it entertaining, especially since I also attended Catholic schools. Detroit was a much different place in the 50's and early 60's than it was in the 70's and 80's when Clemens was growing up, but I still found that he and I shared a lot of similar experiences. |
