Each time I finish a great memoir, I always ask myself, what made this one work? In Following Atticus, it’s clear that Tom Ryan figured out how to make this book work on multiple levels.
When Ryan is seven, his mother dies in a horrible accident. His dad, overwhelmed by her death and too many children to care for (nine), he shuts down emotionally. Ryan is the youngest and perhaps feels the loneliness and anger of his father most of all.
Instead of making this the central story, however, Ryan brilliantly weaves it into a much larger story. Ryan buys a wonderful little dog, who becomes the hero of his story, and they begin, together, to climb mountains. As he tells about his climbing adventures, Ryan weaves in the story of his relationship with his father. Perfect. Brilliant.
Knowing, perhaps, that a story about climbing mountains with a dog might not sell a book, however, Ryan adds two more facets and it works perfectly because both are fascinating and relevant to his bigger story. The first is the story is about a controversial newspaper he founded and wrote (as he climbs mountains, he realizes he no longer cares about the drama of the town he’s writing about), and the second is an informative walk through the White Mountains of New Hampshire. The latter is central to his story for obvious reasons (those are the mountains Ryan is climbing), but Ryan thinks to bring in its history and ambiance and folklore. The result is a a Nautilus Book Award winning memoir.
Once Ryan has pulled you in with the captivating story of his newspaper and the craziness that brought to his life, he introduces you to Atticus, with whom you’ll fall in love. There’s humor and tragedy (no, Atticus doesn’t die at the end - whew!) and adventure.
What a great memoir.
