John Chancellor Makes Me Cry (original) (raw)
Anne Rivers Siddons invites you into her home and her heart In this collection of heartfelt and involving vignettes, Anne Rivers Siddons--the beloved bestselling author of Downtown, Hill Towns, and Colony --offers a stirring and insightful look at our everyday world and how one woman has chosen to live in it. Moving from memories of her gentle grandfather to her uncanny ability to attract stray animals, Siddons' intimate stories of her family are graced with the same poetic lilt and vibrant detail that have so wonderfully served her novels. For all those who know and love her works of fiction, John Chancellor Makes Me Cry is a glorious and thoroughly entertaining treat.
288 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1975
About the author
Born Sybil Anne Rivers in Atlanta, Georgia, she was raised in Fairburn, Georgia, and attended Auburn University, where she was a member of the Delta Delta Delta Sorority.
While at Auburn she wrote a column for the student newspaper, The Auburn Plainsman, that favored integration. The university administration attempted to suppress the column, and ultimately fired her, and the column garnered national attention. She later became a senior editor for Atlanta magazine.
At the age of thirty she married Heyward Siddons, and she and her husband lived in Charleston, South Carolina, and spent summers in Maine. Siddons died of lung cancer on September 11, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
2,136 reviews15 followers
Not used to non-fiction by this author.
Another book with a turtle.
Summer Reading Program at the library.
Costumes as Christmas gifts - I remember this from the mid-70s.
"She can't fit into her cheerleader uniform anymore, but she certainly hasn't been sidelined yet."
"Indeed, I think my grandmother disliked those mules as much as she did Republicans and shiftless people."
This book was originally published in 1975, then updated a bit and brought back in 1992. I enjoy reading Anne Rivers Siddons so I picked up this series of essays which had previously appeared in Atlanta Magazine, House Beautiful, and Georgia. I began flipping through and randomly choosing some that looked interesting. Then I realized that they were grouped by season so I went back to the beginning and read through to the end. These portray Anne's life on a private level. We learn about her husband, home, vacations, job, stepsons and parties - just to name a few of the topics she covers. Each episode is presented in her original and humorous style. I was looking for something a bit different than my usual mysteries and romances - this was the perfect choice for me.
1,264 reviews
A collection of essays/articles by ARS. This was a good vacation book, easy to pick up and put down. I enjoyed this book, almost as much as I like Anna Quindlen’s similar type books. ARS wrote this book, her first I think, in the 70’s and it was “reissued” in 1992. I enjoyed reading about the thoughts of one of my favorite authors.
I discovered this gem on my overflowing bookshelf with no recollection of buying it. Having loved most of Siddons’s books, I settled in with my cup of Joe on a chilly morning to dwell with one of my favorite authors. I was not disappointed. I love the way Siddons writes. Her descriptions are fresh, and her stories candid and relatable. I appreciate her willingness to be vulnerable. I relate to the fears and anxieties she shares in this collection of vignettes, and at times I laughed out loud. Reading Siddons is like conversing with a friend over coffee and biscotti.
64 reviews
While I miss looking forward to new books by this wonderful author, this small gem was a delightful surprise!! Full of thoughts & frequent laughs, I highly recommend to Anne's fans who may have missed this, as I had.
55 reviews
Although I have enjoyed Siddons other books, this was a disappointment. It seemed her heart was not in it, and a deadline loomed.
I was hoping for so much more from one of my favorite writers.
45 reviews4 followers
Loved the vibes. Loved the writing. But that's all.
136 reviews4 followers
I've been trying to read some local authors, and I scanned my mom's shelves and found a couple of books by Anne Rivers Siddons, which are set in Atlanta. I really liked this series of essays from the 1970s. They reminded me a little bit of Erma Bombeck, which I read when I was a kid. Very funny and sweet.
Still and always one of my favorite books - this is a perfect collection of essays, written with style, humor, and an obvious love of life. ARS was, to me, the absolute high priestess of adjectives. I read her books over and over simply for the way she describes things, people, places, feelings, etc.
Insights into the author's life, including her incurable habit of adopting lost cats, sometimes to her husband's chagrin. Depicts life in the South. Sometimes sweet and sentimental, a favorite, easy, comfortable read.
Author 2 books1 follower
Although the author wrote a new preface to this edition 20 years after the original publication saying that she thought these light essays had held up well, I found them less relevant that I expected. I love her fiction, but was not as enchanted with stories of her own life.
16 reviews3 followers
I loved these essays! As a Southerner, I could relate to much of what Mrs. Siddons describes.
862 reviews4 followers
A sweet, enjoyable collection of short nonfiction stories about the author's life.
Author 35 books274 followers
If you want to know the 60's in the south...this is the book.
8 reviews
Enjoyable essays - like an invitation into her home. Some of the stories made me laugh out loud!
576 reviews
A delightful series of essays drawn from the author's life in Atlanta in the mid-Seventies. Mrs. Siddons' work is wry rather than comic and, as seems so often the case with Southern literature, elegiac. But readers will undoubtedly smile and occasionally snicker and even swallow a lump in the throat. Best savored in small bits (one or two essays at a time), a perfect book for a quiet five minutes or last thing before bed.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews