Cav's Place

It’s safe to say that this book greatly exceeded my expectations, and the writing style has a fair bit to do with that. I’ve seen other reviews stating that it’s overdone and the author is showing off and thinking too highly of herself, in this and other ways, but I disagree and will say that the writing is worthy of something that would stand much higher on the totem pole of creative writing than a memoir. And I also disagree with those complaining that she was too young for a memoir and say that the book was aided by the freshness of the memories and being written at a time when she was still searching and having more questions than answers, becoming even more honest and personal as a result.
Past that, there are so many good, thought-provoking musings on too many topics to list. I do need to point out one, or more exactly the entire part about the Israel-Palestine conflict, which remains so relevant and accurate that it might as well have been written now and not almost 20 years ago, but I gave up on my initial intention of listing more when I realized that I’d need to write a book of my own to comment on them… And anyone trying to give proper answers to the good questions contained in the discussion guide that’s included at the end may well be on their way to do just that.
Admittedly, while the general issues presented in them obviously remain, multiple chapters detail a specific period and type of US protests that may be less relevant elsewhere and now, though they remain interesting for those who are curious about certain aspects, even the quite dry San Francisco chapter revealing a fair bit about organizing such movements. I wasn’t keen on the Fort Benning chapter either, having plenty to comment about the musings it started from and then finding it rather meandering, but that’s probably another result of the author honestly presenting her personal journey, including the crossroads she found herself at while writing the book.

Rating: 4/5