{"product_id":"bureau-of-missing-persons-9780801449871","title":"Bureau of Missing Persons","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eAnalyzing contemporary narratives of the secret lives led by writers' fathers.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eA compelling close reading of eighteen memoirs, all of which, Porter finds, struggle with the problem of narrative voice and agency in the context of auto\/biography. Structurally, Porter's book is methodical, with each text given the same treatment: a thesis that connects the text to the chapter's theme; an introduction to the text; the methods or levels of detective work involved in the writer's search; the attitude with which the text seems to be written—vengeful, understanding, judgmental, self-reflective; a comparator text; and an interrogation into whether the text's success in finding parent or self.\u003c\/p\u003e -- Teresa Coronado * Rocky Mountain Review *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eDetective stories are everywhere: as many critics have claimed, most novels, at least since \u003ci\u003eBleak House\u003c\/i\u003e, bear traces of detective fiction. If this is true of novels, Porter's fascinating book argues that it is also the case for literary memoirs—where the mysteries and people investigated are particularly close to home.\u003c\/p\u003e -- Jonathan Taylor * Times Literary Supplement *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTable of Contents\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eIntroduction: The Child's Book of Parental Deception\u003cb\u003e1. Faith-Changing for Life\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The Wounds of Memory: Shame and Discovery in the Kurzem Family\u003cbr\u003e Into the Belly of the Beast: Counterfeiting Identity for Survival\u003cbr\u003e Probing Secret Conversions: Helen Fremont's Anguished Inquisition\u003cb\u003e2. Deciphering Enigma Codes\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Shadowing the Furtive Father Beyond the Grave: Mary Gordon’s Ambivalent Inquiry\u003cbr\u003e \"Love Is No Detective\": Germaine Greer’s Guilty Hunt\u003cbr\u003e Family on the Lam: A Son Running After Secrets\u003cbr\u003e A Scavenger in the Archives: The \"Memory Boy\" Tracks His Parents\u003cbr\u003e The Naked Lady’s Face and the Detective’s Effacement\u003cb\u003e3. The Men Who Were Not There \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Sleuthing Amidst the Shards of the Past: Tracking Absence in the Austers\u003cbr\u003e The Letters and the Flag: Recuperating a Lost Father\u003cbr\u003e Speaking Him into the World: A Daughter Reenters Her Father’s History\u003cbr\u003e A Father Gone Missing: Documenting a Broken Bond\u003cb\u003e4. Becoming One’s Parent\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The Limits of Privacy: Decorum and Exposure at the Ackerley’s\u003cbr\u003e \"Lies Like Contagious Diseases\": The Secrets of the Duke and His Son\u003cbr\u003e Imagining Himself in the Paternal Matrix\u003cbr\u003e Shared Secrets in the Fun House\u003cb\u003e5. Breaking the Silence\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Race, Secrecy, and Discovery: Black on White, White on BlackConclusion: Freedom or Exploitation?\u003ci\u003eBibliography\u003cbr\u003e Index\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Cornell University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49405135356247,"sku":"9780801449871","price":36.1,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9780801449871.jpg?v=1730488834","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/bureau-of-missing-persons-9780801449871","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}