Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Here Comes Trouble by Michael Moore

Cover imageMichael Moore’s Here Comes Trouble is made up of twenty-four autobiographical vignettes, most of which focus on the author’s life from his childhood to the premiere of his award-winning documentary Roger & Me. There are many amusing and sad stories in the collection, and Moore is often able to find humor in rather bleak places. He spends a lot of the book on his youth in the 1950s and 1960s. While in some ways Moore seems to long for those days, particularly when it comes to the much better job prospects for the working class, he also shares less than ideal memories like the harassment of a gay kid in his neighborhood or discrimination at the local golf course.
It was also interesting to find out that Moore had once hoped to join the priesthood. He was eventually asked to leave the seminary, not because he misbehaved but because, as one priest tells him, “you upset the other boys by asking too many questions.” Before he leaves, Moore is at least able to get back at Dickie O’Malley, a bullying and not-too-bright fellow seminarian, by suggesting to one of the priests that he perform an exorcism on Dickie.  I found what followed to be the funniest scene in the book.
If you’ve never like Michael Moore or his movies, you probably won’t enjoy Here Comes Trouble. However, if you are even the most casual fan you will be entertained by these pieces.

Read-alike: Lonelyhearts: the Screwball World of Nathanael West and Eileen McKenney by Marion Meade

John

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