By  Lisa Boss, Grand Rapids Library, Main

Love him or hate him — people aren’t usually lukewarm about Michael Moore. This is an “almost memoir” that leaves out all of the dull stuff and serves up anecdotal bites of Moore’s life.

Growing up in Flint in the post-war 1950s, Moore was a good Catholic boy who had planned to become a priest. Moore’s life trajectory is fascinating to follow, prompting one reviewer to comment that “Michael Moore is Michigan’s own Forrest Gump.”

Moore can be a tad self-serving (who isn’t), but he makes up for that by also being self-effacing, thoughtful, and funny. The portraits of his parents are poignant and especially well done. It’s also a great memoir from the ’50s, when things were a lot different for the average kid. This is a quieter, more thoughtful book than some of his previous works, and I totally enjoyed the audio version, which is read by the author.