Book Report

John Hamilton Farr

Chunking rocks at raccoons

Sure, I’ll just gather up all the blog posts I published over the last four years of my mother’s life when she was batshit crazy and mean as hell and make a book out of them. Except that I was out of my mind then, too, which is kind of the point, so I’ve had to do a lot of editing. Funny how having someone trying to kill you affects real-time storytelling. The HELEN CHRONICLES: When Your Mother Falls Apart is almost ready, however. I just have to add some notes and check that no one will be arrested. I wouldn’t care too much if they were, but once you let your conscience in the door, you’re screwed.

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John Hamilton Farr lives at 7,000 feet in Ranchos de Taos, New Mexico, U.S.A. As New York Times best-selling author James C. Moore tells it, John is “a man attuned to the world who sees it differently than you and I and writes about it with a language and a vision of life that is impossible to ignore.” This JHFARR.COM site is the master writing archive. To email John, please see CONTACT INFO on About page. For a complete list of all John’s writing, photography, NFTs, and social media links, please visit JHFARR.ART  

  • Rita May 16, 2014, 12:55 AM

    Ah, yes. Writer’s Dilemma. That place where the artistry happens. No rush.

    • JHF May 16, 2014, 8:48 AM

      Wary of being judged for quality of off-the-cuff writing, but I’d like to get the story out and move on. Tricky business.

  • Karen May 16, 2014, 9:57 AM

    Should be an interesting read for me…..can’t wait for you to finish! Insight into a life I know little about…….

  • Duncan May 16, 2014, 2:14 PM

    Screw the world, you’ve got a story to tell. So tell it, warts an all.
    After all, if people don’t like it, they don’t need to read it.

    The problem with the world today, as I see it, is that we are all just too polite, overly politically correct and accept that expressing what’s really going on inside you is taboo.
    After all, isn’t that what shrinks are for.
    I mean, if we were left to our own devices, we would put those guys out of work and probably be happy!
    And all that without medication.
    Amazing!

    But then what do I know, after all, I’m just a little mad. Just like the rest of us…….

    • JHF May 16, 2014, 8:16 PM

      Hey Duncan! No problem with the subject matter. It’s just that I thought the posts in question stood on their own, but a closer look got me to writing annotations to smooth out the narrative. Almost done.

  • terri May 16, 2014, 6:58 PM

    …having just reviewed the 2 yrs of credit card fraud my brother committed against my 90 yr old 90% deaf and 90% blind mom, I can’t wait to read another family’s thrilling tale of dysfunction. I was first drawn to your posts about Helen and the drives to Tucson…and have of course, stuck around. I could easily put my own frustrated self in your place as you described Helen’s ways. I’ve done intakes with Adult Protective Services, the local law enforcement fraud division, contacted her bank, and confronted him, and so far he’s still getting away with it, betting that she’ll die before he has to pay up. What is it about trusting moms who are very old and defer to any ‘nice’ person they come across? I know our families are different, but by God, I feel this sickness and heaviness you have described. Please publish soon. By the way, I know you’re a Lamotte fan. Some of her BEST essays are about her wild frustration with her mom.

    • JHF May 16, 2014, 8:23 PM

      It won’t be long. You’ve probably read most of it before, although not all in one volume. I’m fascinated by your comment, though. It’s giving me more ideas. I’ll take another look at Lamotte’s essays.

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