Review of Priestdaddy: A Memoir

Author: Patricia Lockwood
Rating: 5 Stars
Review By: Shana

What a singular experience -- strangely hilarious, poignant, insightful, profane, and extremely poetic (unsurprising, given that Lockwood is a poet). This does not read like a standard memoir, it is not entirely linear and it not only concentrates on the author's father as a central force, but also explores her mother, siblings, and husband.  

She manages to turn an honest eye to some of the grave problems that plague the Catholic church, but does so with sensitivity and wit, an insider's view to how some things go unsaid and stay hidden. Lockwood also weaves in her own gradual separation from being a practicing Catholic while still being immersed in the Church due to her upbringing and family, that sometimes fraught balance between what she believes and what some of the members of the Church believe. 

Lockwood’s prose is vibrant and immediate, her characterizations sometimes feel nearly fictional or satirical, the dialog bizarre and interesting and sometimes R-rated. This was unlike anything I've ever read, but I can see why it has shown up on so many best of lists last year.  Highly recommended.