an american childhood by annie dillard analysis

As an adolescent, she quit attending church because of 'hypocrisy.' When she told her minister of her decision, she was given four volumes of C. : 195 She spent four summers at the First Presbyterian Church (FPC) Camp in Ligonier, Pennsylvania. Her days were filled with exploring, piano and dance classes, rock collecting, bug collecting, drawing, and reading books from the public library including natural history and military history such as World War II.Īs a child, Dillard attended the Shadyside Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh, though her parents did not attend. Among the influential books from her youth were The Natural Way to Draw and Field Book of Ponds and Streams : 81 because they allowed her a way to interact with the present moment and a way of escape, respectively. In her autobiography, Dillard describes reading a wide variety of subjects including geology, natural history, entomology, epidemiology, and poetry, among others. Her father taught her many useful subjects such as plumbing, economics, and the intricacies of the novel On the Road, though by the end of her adolescence she began to realize neither of her parents is infallible. She describes her mother as an energetic non-conformist. She is the eldest of three daughters.Įarly childhood details can be drawn from Annie Dillard's autobiography, An American Childhood (1987), about growing up in the 50s Point Breeze neighborhood of Pittsburgh in 'a house full of comedians.' The book focuses on 'waking up' : 195 from a self-absorbed childhood and becoming immersed in the present moment of the larger world. From 1980, Dillard taught for 21 years in the English department of Wesleyan University, in Middletown, Connecticut.ĭillard was born April 30, 1945, in Pittsburgh to Frank and Pam Doak. Her 1974 work Pilgrim at Tinker Creek won the 1975 Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction.

She has published works of poetry, essays, prose, and literary criticism, as well as two novels and one memoir.

Annie Dillard (née Doak born April 30, 1945) is an American author, best known for her narrative prose in both fiction and non-fiction.

An american childhood by annie dillard analysis