Cori Crooks, is a writer, an artist, a playwright, and a musician. Her offbeat prose quickly earned her local press, respect amongst top bloggers and published writers, as well as a cult following of fans eager for more of her quirky and fresh story telling.
Cori attributes her talents to having lived a full life at an early age. Once a homeless teen in the suburbs of Oakland, CA, she went on to write and direct plays at her community college theatre, record music and tour with indie rock bands, and study Humanities at San Francisco State University. She now lives with her husband and two children in the greater Sacramento area. It is funny and heartbreaking, and it makes for an absorbing and compelling read.
As Crooks unflinchingly exposes every one of her dark secrets for all to share, she searches not only for who her family is, but who she is as well. A truly inspiring and fresh approach to a tough coming of age story and a must read for anyone, regardless of age.
Crooks combines beautiful prose with photos, artwork and newspaper clippings to create a hilarious but heartbreaking chronicle of her search. Search review text. Patrick O'Neil. Author 9 books 49 followers. What we know.
What we think we know, and the reality of what actually occurred. Childhood memories. Those vague dream like senses of the past that haunt us forever and, whether we want to admit it or not, form the basis for most of the decisions we make throughout our lives.
Adolescent memories: hormonal intensity, the loss of innocence, a hunger for more as we continue on into adulthood. And finally all those memories that creep into our thoughts as we look back on our lives and wonder how we made it this far and what the future holds.
With a beautiful and intense sense of intimacy Crooks' teenage angst voice tinged with the insecurity of a reminiscing adult takes the reader along for the ride as she shifts through her recollections of preconceived notions and allows us to share her sacred thoughts of the dead, as well as her fears of forgetting and being forgotten — who the hell am I if I'm not the daughter, the sister, the child of a mother who was never really honest about who she was.
The product of a childhood of one more couch to sleep on, one more midnight move when the rent was overdue and eviction was certain. Another night of wondering whether her mom was coming home or was she once again on her own having to grow up quick. And now, after the dust settles and years have past there maybe a father, or maybe its just a jailhouse letter from some unknown person with the same name.
A death notice, a yellowed newspaper obituary, tattered black and white photographs taped into a diary of uncertainties. This is compassionate voyeurism at its best. As Crooks unflinching exposes every one of her dark secrets for all to share as she searches not only for who her family is, but who she is as well. A truly inspiring and fresh approach to a tough coming of age story and must read for anyone, regardless of age.
Sven Eberlein. Author 1 book 8 followers. Cori Crooks could have written down her story as a plain old memoir and it would have been an unbridled stunner and page-turner. The characters that were placed in her life are in and of themselves fit for an epic novel or Hollywood plot. But Ms. Crooks is no ordinary writer; out of the carefully crafted web of letters, photos, diaries, poetry and art arises her own soul, the soul of an artist, a poet, a muse -- a soul so large and beaming with light and life that it was able to take the rotten hand she was dealt and turn it into a sparkling gem of a book.
Sweet Charlotte's Seventh Mistake is written proof that there is free will in God's great universe: Nothing and nobody can keep us from being gracious, beautiful, and delightfully funny, no matter where, when or how we've entered this place. Thank you for this all-important reminder! Susan Rose. This is book is- in presentation a cross between an artist's scrapbook and a graphic novel memoir, the pages are beautiful and the writing equally so.
Its written in short sections which moves the narrative about in the author's perseonal timeline, which makes it a really quick but worthwhile read. Due to this timeine jumping the story of the author's childhood and geneology is built up gradually so we as the reader have as many questions, as at times in the book, the author herself has. It's pretty frank about what it's like to grow up with a drug-addict mother, but never gets too graphic.
The scrapbook layout of the book unexpectedly moved me--I kinda felt like I was snooping through someone's stuff. Crooks is local; the book is based on her blog writings. Through them, she allows readers to glimpse a flawed, fascinating woman who had 15 names, seven husbands and seven children. As Crooks unflinching exposes every one of her dark secrets for all to share, she searches not only for who her family is, but who she is as well.
A truly inspiring and fresh approach to a tough coming of age story and must read for anyone, regardless of age. Crooks has pieced together a pastiche from documents, family photos, poem fragments, letters and her own memory. And the story is pure pulp fiction.
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