Audiobook6 hours
Born on the Bayou: A Memoir
Written by Blaine Lourd
Narrated by Blaine Lourd
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
5/5
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About this audiobook
In the tradition of the modern classics The Tender Bar by J.R. Moehringer and The Liars' Club by Mary Karr, Blaine Lourd's meaningful debut Born on the Bayou is a powerful gothic memoir set in the bayous and oil towns of 1970s Louisiana. In honest, confessional prose, Born on the Bayou-a rollercoaster rags-to-riches story-transports us to a pocket of the South where Lourd learns how to be a man from the two people he looks up to the most: his larger-than-life father, "Puffer," a prominent figure in the oil business, and his successful older brother, Bryan. With an eye turned perpetually toward the gruff and distant Puffer, Lourd illustrates how those closest to us can cause the most hurt, even as we seek their approval. Whether he's learning how to skin a duck at age ten, enjoying his first beer at thirteen, or detailing the finer points of ride-on lawn mowing, Lourd gets to the heart of being a Southerner with rawness and grace. From his early childhood through his eventual pilgrimage to the West Coast, he beautifully details what it means to have tangible roots to a place so ingrained it is a part of your own being. From barreling down the low country roads in a shiny Thunderbird to chasing women and learning to be a gentleman, Born on the Bayou is one man's struggle against the forces of family love, loyalty and obligation, and the ties that keep us tethered to our roots no matter how far we run.
Author
Blaine Lourd
Blaine Lourd was born and raised in New Iberia, Louisiana. He now resides in California with his wife and three sons and works in the finance industry. Born on the Bayou is his first book.
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Reviews for Born on the Bayou
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
5/5
3 ratings1 review
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Excellent story about growing up in the shadow of a father who seems larger than life and realizing that to move on you need to move away, and follow your own footsteps. The book at times seems to be a stereotype of life in southern Louisiana but you are so perfectly immersed in the life and culture by the authors vivid descriptions that you have to believe it was like it is described. I think you need to be a man to truly enjoy this book.