Bettyville

September 1, 2015

Hodgman's poignant and funny memoir is about returning to his hometown of Paris, MO, to take care of his 90-year-old mother, Betty. Hodgman had a successful career as a magazine and book editor in New York. After a stint in rehabilitation for drug and alcohol addiction, he found himself jobless. At the same time his nonagenarian mother asked him to come home. Increasingly frail, she could no longer live on her own. Hodgman returned to Paris to assess the situation. Betty was determined to hang on despite her limitations, practicing the piano (she had been the church organist), playing bridge with longtime friends, and making lists of things to remember in case her memory failed. In addition to musings on his return, Hodgman shares family stories about his grandparents and his parents, as well as reminiscences of growing up gay in the 1970s, when coming out was beyond imagining. (He reflects that Betty knew about and accepted his sexual orientation.) Hodgman shows that you can indeed go home again, but don't be surprised by the changes. This wonderful story is impeccably narrated by Jeff Woodman. VERDICT Highly recommended. ["This superior memoir, written in a witty and episodic style, is at times heartbreaking": LJ 6/1/15 starred review of the Viking hc.]--Nann Blaine Hilyard, formerly with Zion-Benton P.L., IL

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 9, 2015
Hodgman's memoir chronicles his return home to care for his mother in the small Missouri town where he grew up. His relocation provides the veteran book editor and writer an opportunity for re-evaluating his life while assuming care of Betty, his ailing, widowed, and willful 90-year-old mother. Hodgman's narrative alternates between describing the joys and stresses of his daily caretaking tasks, giving close analysis of his life growing up gay in a smalltown. Hodgman also chronicles his long struggle to understand and become comfortable in his own skin, ruminating over the decades his family muffled discussion of his sexuality. Hodgman attended college, then moved to New York at the beginning of the AIDS crisis, which greatly affected his view of the world. As Betty's health declines, Hodgman is buoyed by the friendships and familiarities provided by smalltown life. Hodgman includes a cast of characters from his hometown, as well as people he encountered professionally and romantically in New York. The author's continuous low-key humor infuses the memoir with refreshing levity, without diminishing the emotional toll of being the sole health-care provider to an elderly parent. This is an emotionally honest portrayal of a son's secrets and his unending devotion to his mother.