Did Chapter 16, as an ending to this book, feel satisfying???

I so enjoyed reading this memoir, but have to admit that the last chapter (Chapter 16) felt a little too "tell" and not enough "show" to match the rest of the book. I felt a bit let down. Did any of you feel similarly? If so, can you think of a way Kanigel could have ended "Young Man, Muddled" that could have been a better fit?

Yes, I felt it did. It summed up the reflection on his coming-of-age in the 60s as it relates to where he is now when writing this book. As someone who is a contemporary of Kanigel, as you age you come to reflect more on those years that defined you and led you to the choices you made. I think this is why I enjoyed this book so much. Self-reflection is important, or so it seems to me.

I also liked chapter 16 for all the reasons janines states. Also, only a year older than Kanigel, I feel like I could replace some of his text with my story. We had many similarities. Initially I asked myself, “Why am I reading about someone else’s life who I had never heard of?”
But now I am so glad I got the opportunity to read this book because it validates that my imperfect life is still worthy.

I was left unsatisfied because I wanted to know more about his life after his 20's! Ultimately, the book felt more like an ode to the one that got away than a memoir of how Robert came to be who is today.

I thought Rob did a good job bringing closure to certain parts of his early life, such as what happened to his relationship with Maura. I was very disappointed by his lack of reflection and insight into how much his parents’ subtlety influenced his hidden ache to write. On one hand, he painted his parents as being somewhat focused “on their show” and their interests and habits. He mentioned his mother worked on her degree in English, that literature, poetry, history, etc. were the real business of life.

I rarely like the way a book ends...it usually leaves many unanswered questions or ends abruptly or wraps things up too neatly for my liking. I felt like this book was no different in that it could have shown more reflection and insight into his feelings to sum things up.

I knew ahead of time that this was going to be about a short period in his life, so I wasn't surprised at the ending. I think he had an excellent editor, because going through how that time frame affected the entire rest of his life would have added 100 pages.