Educated memoir- Tara Westover

[Anonymous]

I've been going through the media section on her website:

https://tarawestover.com/media/

I've listened/watched/read a few things. She's basically sticking to the same talking points, which don't really convey much new. She knows the family she is in touch with has read the book. She thinks some family from whom she is estranged have read it but doesn't know. She's come to recognize that whether she is back in touch with her parents/brother is their decision, not hers. She sounds pretty healthy.

The one new thing I learned is that she started to write in a writers group and found she was terrible (academic writing vs narrative writing). So she decided she needed to learn ,and listened to the New Yorker short story podcast (where the authors talk about their writing techniques and break down what works in the story and why) to recognize and figure out good writing.

The one thing I wonder that I haven't seen answered is what is her job right now? Is she living off the book / speaking? Does she have or want an academic job? What is her career path?

I'm also curious if she sees herself marrying and having children someday. Haven't seen that asked/answered yet.

[Anonymous]

I really liked the book and I believe her story. Though I note there is a picture of her father on FB and I couldn’t really see anything like any major scars on his face. The photo appeared to be from 2009 and I don’t think the years everything happened what totally clear.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've been going through the media section on her website:

https://tarawestover.com/media/

I've listened/watched/read a few things. She's basically sticking to the same talking points, which don't really convey much new. She knows the family she is in touch with has read the book. She thinks some family from whom she is estranged have read it but doesn't know. She's come to recognize that whether she is back in touch with her parents/brother is their decision, not hers. She sounds pretty healthy.

The one new thing I learned is that she started to write in a writers group and found she was terrible (academic writing vs narrative writing). So she decided she needed to learn ,and listened to the New Yorker short story podcast (where the authors talk about their writing techniques and break down what works in the story and why) to recognize and figure out good writing.

The one thing I wonder that I haven't seen answered is what is her job right now? Is she living off the book / speaking? Does she have or want an academic job? What is her career path?

I'm also curious if she sees herself marrying and having children someday. Haven't seen that asked/answered yet.

Have you listened to the podcast Mormon Stories episode 903? She has a done a few interviews there but that one seemed different, While there weren’t a ton of new facts (there were some including the writing point you mentioned), it delved into her point of view on a few life things, I enjoyed it,

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've been going through the media section on her website:

https://tarawestover.com/media/

I've listened/watched/read a few things. She's basically sticking to the same talking points, which don't really convey much new. She knows the family she is in touch with has read the book. She thinks some family from whom she is estranged have read it but doesn't know. She's come to recognize that whether she is back in touch with her parents/brother is their decision, not hers. She sounds pretty healthy.

The one new thing I learned is that she started to write in a writers group and found she was terrible (academic writing vs narrative writing). So she decided she needed to learn ,and listened to the New Yorker short story podcast (where the authors talk about their writing techniques and break down what works in the story and why) to recognize and figure out good writing.

The one thing I wonder that I haven't seen answered is what is her job right now? Is she living off the book / speaking? Does she have or want an academic job? What is her career path?

I'm also curious if she sees herself marrying and having children someday. Haven't seen that asked/answered yet.

Have you listened to the podcast Mormon Stories episode 903? She has a done a few interviews there but that one seemed different, While there weren’t a ton of new facts (there were some including the writing point you mentioned), it delved into her point of view on a few life things, I enjoyed it,

I have now listened to episode #882, and you might enjoy that. It focuses a lot of Mormonism and it briefly gets into her views on whether to have kids and get married (spoiler: she's unsure).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I enjoyed the story but wasn't blown away like the others here seem to have been. I've read memoir's that drew me in more and where the evolution of the person made more sense to me.

It wasn't clear where her drive to learn and change came from. Her decisions seemed to just happen.

Not that she isn't incredible and her story isn't meaningful. Just the narrative didn't strike me as it seemed to others.

Ditto. I liked The Glass Castle much better.

[Anonymous]

Did anyone find information about her family? Like, did they really become that wealthy?

Very early on, reading about the abuse (before she got into the physical abuse) made me very uncomfortable.

I thought the writing was terrible in some parts. But, it was an interesting read. It confirmed my worst suspicions about survivalists, unfortunately. And, yes, I know not everyone is abusive or bipoloar. But, good god, her parents were awful people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Did anyone find information about her family? Like, did they really become that wealthy?

Very early on, reading about the abuse (before she got into the physical abuse) made me very uncomfortable.

I thought the writing was terrible in some parts. But, it was an interesting read. It confirmed my worst suspicions about survivalists, unfortunately. And, yes, I know not everyone is abusive or bipoloar. But, good god, her parents were awful people.

I just finished the book this week. I thought the writing and story were incredible. Yes, many in her family were awful in a lot of ways, but I was struck by how nuanced a portrait she drew of the worst of them.

You can google "Butterfly Express" to find out more about the people in the family who are given pseudonyms in the book--they are clearly now very successful. I didn't find much online re the dad or the awful brother. Someone clearly helped them scrub their online presence. There is a letter from her family's lawyer that attempts to cast doubt on parts of her account but has the opposite effect. It's cool to see the photos of Tyler and Richard. They look exactly like I expected. There's also a nice article that refers to her brother Luke, who gets surgery that helps restore much of the lost sight in his injured eye.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I enjoyed the story but wasn't blown away like the others here seem to have been. I've read memoir's that drew me in more and where the evolution of the person made more sense to me.

It wasn't clear where her drive to learn and change came from. Her decisions seemed to just happen.

Not that she isn't incredible and her story isn't meaningful. Just the narrative didn't strike me as it seemed to others.

Same.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did anyone find information about her family? Like, did they really become that wealthy?

Very early on, reading about the abuse (before she got into the physical abuse) made me very uncomfortable.

I thought the writing was terrible in some parts. But, it was an interesting read. It confirmed my worst suspicions about survivalists, unfortunately. And, yes, I know not everyone is abusive or bipoloar. But, good god, her parents were awful people.

I just finished the book this week. I thought the writing and story were incredible. Yes, many in her family were awful in a lot of ways, but I was struck by how nuanced a portrait she drew of the worst of them.

You can google "Butterfly Express" to find out more about the people in the family who are given pseudonyms in the book--they are clearly now very successful. I didn't find much online re the dad or the awful brother. Someone clearly helped them scrub their online presence. There is a letter from her family's lawyer that attempts to cast doubt on parts of her account but has the opposite effect. It's cool to see the photos of Tyler and Richard. They look exactly like I expected. There's also a nice article that refers to her brother Luke, who gets surgery that helps restore much of the lost sight in his injured eye.

I found pictures of her brother “Shawn”, his wife, sick baby and new baby. I didn’t see any pictures of her dad, and I didn’t find her sister.

I wasn’t wowed during the first half, but the book came together nicely at the end.

[Anonymous]

I thought you were talking about the Tara and Westover neighborhoods in Arlington.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did anyone find information about her family? Like, did they really become that wealthy?

Very early on, reading about the abuse (before she got into the physical abuse) made me very uncomfortable.

I thought the writing was terrible in some parts. But, it was an interesting read. It confirmed my worst suspicions about survivalists, unfortunately. And, yes, I know not everyone is abusive or bipoloar. But, good god, her parents were awful people.

I just finished the book this week. I thought the writing and story were incredible. Yes, many in her family were awful in a lot of ways, but I was struck by how nuanced a portrait she drew of the worst of them.

You can google "Butterfly Express" to find out more about the people in the family who are given pseudonyms in the book--they are clearly now very successful. I didn't find much online re the dad or the awful brother. Someone clearly helped them scrub their online presence. There is a letter from her family's lawyer that attempts to cast doubt on parts of her account but has the opposite effect. It's cool to see the photos of Tyler and Richard. They look exactly like I expected. There's also a nice article that refers to her brother Luke, who gets surgery that helps restore much of the lost sight in his injured eye.

I found pictures of her brother “Shawn”, his wife, sick baby and new baby. I didn’t see any pictures of her dad, and I didn’t find her sister.

I wasn’t wowed during the first half, but the book came together nicely at the end.

I liked the book a lot, actually the first half better than the second I found dad’s pics prior to the accident, it’s in her mom’s accounts. Found “Shawn” and the rest of them too.

[Anonymous]

I just finished it. Remarkable book. I do wonder about consequences to the brother and the safety of his poor wife and kids.

[Anonymous]

Supposedly Tyler wrote a review:

https://www.goodreads.com/questions/1337824-i-saw-mentioned-that-tyler-westover-has

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did anyone find information about her family? Like, did they really become that wealthy?

Very early on, reading about the abuse (before she got into the physical abuse) made me very uncomfortable.

I thought the writing was terrible in some parts. But, it was an interesting read. It confirmed my worst suspicions about survivalists, unfortunately. And, yes, I know not everyone is abusive or bipoloar. But, good god, her parents were awful people.

I just finished the book this week. I thought the writing and story were incredible. Yes, many in her family were awful in a lot of ways, but I was struck by how nuanced a portrait she drew of the worst of them.

You can google "Butterfly Express" to find out more about the people in the family who are given pseudonyms in the book--they are clearly now very successful. I didn't find much online re the dad or the awful brother. Someone clearly helped them scrub their online presence. There is a letter from her family's lawyer that attempts to cast doubt on parts of her account but has the opposite effect. It's cool to see the photos of Tyler and Richard. They look exactly like I expected. There's also a nice article that refers to her brother Luke, who gets surgery that helps restore much of the lost sight in his injured eye.

I found pictures of her brother “Shawn”, his wife, sick baby and new baby. I didn’t see any pictures of her dad, and I didn’t find her sister.

I wasn’t wowed during the first half, but the book came together nicely at the end.

I saw one of her dad on her mom’s FB page

[Anonymous]

I picked it up but thought it sounded too similar to The Glass Castle. I loved that book, but didn't feel like I needed another read so much like it. For those who have read both, is this one worth it to read too?