Wild Blueberries: Nuns Rabbits & Discovery in Rural Michigan

Great Lakes Great Reads Award Finalist; Next Generation Indie Book Award Finalist in Autobiography/Biography. In this beautifully written and illustrated collection of generous poignant and humorous stories Peter Damm recalls the joys of fishing on a northern lake the rigors and confusion of childhood or feasting on blueberries in autumn. These vignettes of growing up in small town rural Michigan and a closely observed portrait of mid-century America are not just pretty postcards. Damms family experienced difficulty alcoholism and loss and he writes with a survivors compassion. These are tales for all the senses held in place by strands of memory alternately steel and gold.Peter Damms memoir Wild Blueberries is a joy to read. What emerges is a lyrical rich and complex account of growing up in rural Michigan. The story of his Catholic coming of age is skeptical in tone at times amusing and yet we see how a sheltering tradition can comfort and unify. I read Wild Blueberries in two sittings held by its directness and simplicity. It was a pleasure to be in the hands of an intelligent and generous author. Leo Litwak-Guggenheim Fellow winner of the Jewish National Book Award and the 1990 O. Henry Awards 1st PrizeIn Wild Blueberries Peter Damm tenderly sketches out the delights and tribulations of a seemingly quiet Midwestern childhood. Wrestling with the riddles of his Catholic inheritance we hear the questions of a smart sensitive young man trying to puzzle out the mysteries of sin sex and spirit and make sense of the adult world. There is a gentleness and humor to Damms stories that invites the reader to reflect on their own journey to maturity. J. Ruth Gendler-Writer artist teacher. Author of The Book of Qualities Changing Light and Notes on the Need for BeautyPeter Damms stories about growing up in Michigan made me laugh aloud cry and occasionally wince when they hit too close to home. He infuses his stories with a deeply felt sense of place. The lakes and forests of his Michigan youth take on the presence of characters in his narrative. This is a lovely collection well conceived and beautifully told. The clean economy of the language and its cadences possess a quality that is almost poetic. Wild Blueberries is a gem of a book. William Rodarmor-Award-winning journalist and translatorLike a brisk and invigorating breeze or an oven-warmed dessert Wild Blueberries reminded me of the best of a childs sensibility: daring mischief and a fabulous imagination openness to sensual experience commitment to understanding adult mysteries sensitivity to siblings and parents suffering. This book is a carefully crafted emotionally intelligent piece of literature. I literally treasured every page of Peter Damms memoir. I shall keep it close by for rereading.What a beautiful and deeply moving book. From the first page to the last I was captured by how these seemingly ordinary events of childhood and adulthood became transformed into extraordinary magical tales of wonder and sometimes bittersweet loss. Written lovingly with a tender respect for the innocence of childhood and ones own coming of age as well as a wry and wicked sense of humor the book opened my heart and made me both laugh and well-up with tears. What a pure pleasure to read Wild Blueberries.Reading this book made me feel like I was sitting outside on a porch during a summer evening listening to a master storyteller spin his yarns. You get caught up in the beauty or the humor or the poignancy or the honesty of the stories. I was captivated by this book.