Dreaming: Hard Luck and Good Times in America

Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1996. xxii, 343 pages, illustrations; 24 cm. A very good copy with a gently creased spine. First paperback edition. A handwritten note, signed and warmly inscribed by the author Carolyn See (1934-2016), is laid in: "You know, there is something to be said for a mildly disorderly life . . . I've been on a writing spree - finishing a piece on 'Dying at Home' . . . It was so much fun and so much of a treat to meet you." "In this bittersweet and beautifully written memoir, Carolyn See embarks on nothing less than a reevaluation of the American Dream. Although it features a clan in which dysfunction was something of a family tradition, Dreaming is no victim's story. With a wry humor and not a trace of self-pity, See writes of fights and breakups and hard times, but also of celebration and optimism in the face of adversity. The story of See's family speaks for the countless people who reached for the shining American vision, found it eluded their grasp, and then tried to make what they had glitter as best they could. / Carolyn See is the author of five novels. She has a Ph.D in American literature from the University of California, Los Angeles, where she is an Adjunct Professor of English. Her awards include the Robert Kirsch Body of Work Award (1993) and a Guggenheim Fellowship in fiction." - Publisher.. SIGNED. 1st. Paperback. Very Good. 8vo. Collectible.