Chester W Oliver
The Chester Chronicles I: "It Was a Dark and Stormy Night"
A bare-faced memoir and account of Chester Oliver's life from his squalling beginnings to adolescence.
Reader Reviews
Copied from Amazon reviews about the Memoir
5.0 out of 5 stars His words bring me pictures and feelings and smells of my youth
Reviewed in the United States on June 4, 2021
Chester Oliver is bringing dreams to life with well thought out phrases and words. He made me remember times of love and anger and fun and horror from my childhood. Great descriptions of life in Michigan and Texas. A nice book to read while swinging in a hammock on a warm sunny day.
4.0 out of 5 stars It Was a Dark and Stormy Night
Reviewed in the United States on May 30, 2020
This is billed as part 1 of “The Chester Chronicles,” so presumably there is at least one more volume, maybe several, planned for the future. Odds are you’ve never heard of Chester Oliver until now and may be wondering why you’d want to read about his life in a series of memoirs. That’s a fair question.
I’ve had a theory that most random people, especially those who are “of a certain age” and therefore have a lot of years of experiences to draw on could, assuming appropriate writing skills, write a memoir that many (myself included) would find to be an interesting read. I find myself going from comparing my experiences (yeah, I remember what it was like to move to the new town and be the new kid in the neighborhood) to nostalgia at time. Sometimes an experience I hadn’t had, for example his frequent fishing at a lake cabin with family, I’d imagine as much like those of a friend of mine whose family owned a fishing resort in rural Minnesota. Experiences that aren’t like anything I or anyone I know well have had are a chance to put myself in someone else shoes and hopefully learn a bit about viewing things from a different point of view.
With the exception of one experience and it’s aftermath that didn’t happen until fairly close to the end of the book, Chester’s experiences weren’t a whole lot different from what many of us have experienced in life, yet they’re still his unique combination of experiences and, I found reading about them entertaining and a positive experience. To me, that’s what memoirs are about, and there is often as much, if not more, to be learned from a normal person than from someone famous, infamous, or outside of the norm in some way.
**Originally written for "Books and Pals" book blog.
5.0 out of 5 stars Shades of Mark Twain
Reviewed in the United States on December 2, 2019
I laughed my way through Chester Oliver's memoir. His wry take on the world reminded me so much of Mark Twain. Or, if we're looking for a more modern reference, something of David Sedaris. He writes so vividly of his family members, you start to worry that maybe Grandma will take after you with the hairbrush. There's plenty of 50s and 60s nostalgia here, but Chester doesn't shy away from the challenges, either. He doesn't make light of the domestic violence and racism he witnessed, but these dark moments are handled with sensitivity and a deft hand. It Was a Dark and Stormy Night is such a complete picture of a kid growing up a couple of generations ago.
