| House Rules: A Memoir (P.S.) |  | Author: Rachel Sontag
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Category: Book
List Price: $13.99
Buy New: $11.19
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Avg. Customer Rating:  35 reviews
Sales Rank: 1033590
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 288
Dimensions (in): 8 x 5.3 x 0.6
ISBN: 0061341231
Dewey Decimal Number: 920
EAN: 9780061341236
ASIN: 0061341231
Publication Date: April 1, 2009 (In 131 Days)
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Product Description
At an early age, Rachel Sontag realized there was something deeply wrong with her father. On the surface, he was a well-respected, suburban physician. But questioning his authority led to brutal fights; disobedience meant humiliating punishments. When she was twelve, he duct-taped her stereo dial to National Public Radio, measured the length of her hair and fingernails with a ruler, and regulated when she could shower. A memoir of a father obsessed with control and the daughter who fights his suffocating grasp, House Rules explores the complexities of their compelling and destructive relationship, and his equally manipulative relationships with his wife and other daughter. As Rachel's mother cedes all her power to her husband, and her sister fades into the background of their family life, Rachel fights to escape, and, later, to make sense of what remains of her family.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 30 more reviews...
How did she survive? October 8, 2008
Rachel Sontag, in her book, House Rules, writes about her compulsive,obsessive overly-strict father and her passive mother. Neither parent seemed to have been on Rachel's side as she was growing up. But Rachel seems to also have been her own worst enemny. I was very disturbed by her book. I am looking for a psychiatrist to read the book to help me interpret why Rachel and her parents, particularly her father, could not come to some viable living arrangement which would satisfy both the child and the parents. As I read the book, it seemed to me that Rachel's parents are still alive. Rachel says that they only way she can survive it to write this book. If Rachel's parents are still alive, how can they live with themselves the way they were/are? Who is helping Rachel? Nancy Salen
 Amazing Story of a mentally ill man and a strong woman September 28, 2008
Rachel's book was hard to put down. The story of her life is heart-wrenching. It seems like her father's obsession with control has still not stopped with some of these posts. He truly needs help and I admire Rachel for her strength in her decisions and a fabulous book!
Life with a control freak ... August 22, 2008
Rachel Sontag wrote the chronicle of growing up with verbal and emotional abuse from her physician father and her doormat mother in this book. I think she endured some incredibly awful things with her control freak dad. Throughout the book I kept wanting her to get older and escape him and to set some boundaries with her mom. It's sad that estrangement has to happen but when there is someone who treats others the way Rachel's father treated his loved ones, it's the only way to cope. I've learned the hard way that self-preservation is more important than doing what others expect of me as I had similar experiences with a family member who was verbally abusive to me when I was young and on into my later years. Bravo to Rachel for setting some boundaries and then daring to tell her story. I really enjoyed the book and I hope she and her sister will remain close.
Powerful tale by a brave writer. August 11, 2008
Read this book! If you work with children in any capacity, this is a must read. The writing is powerful and you walk away from it better understanding the effects of verbal, emotional, and mental abuse.
Calling out crazy is a brave thing to do, especially when there is a lot on the line. Rachel - Kudos for finding your voice and using it!
everyone should read this book August 8, 2008
It's hard to know what to say after reading memoirs of abuse. Saying that I loved this book doesn't seem right somehow, because it is a sad and troubling portrayal of a person's real life, and it was somewhat of a disturbing book to read. But I did love the way Sontag wrote about her family, the way she put it all out there and let the reader experience what she (unfortunately) experienced in her life. I have no doubt that her father was every bit as terrifying as she made him sound, probably more so, and reading this book simply made me feel sad for her. I actually truly feel for Sontag, because when I was growing up, I went through similar types of things with my father... he wasn't anywhere NEAR as abusive and controlling as hers, but he did do some of the same kinds of controlling and abnormal behaviors with myself, my mom, and my brothers and sister. So coming from that perspective, I truly understand and appreciate her telling this story and needing to tell it in order to heal from her past. At the end of the book, Sontag explores her relationships with her mother and sister as they stand now, and I truly hope, for her sake, that those three women are able to patch up their relationships with each other and lean on each other. I've learned through my life that the only people you can really count on are your family - and when some members of your family are less than ideal, you really need to stick by those family members who ARE there for you. So I hope that they can forge a friendship with one another from here on out.
I'd definitely recommend this book, especially if you like memoirs, this one is a really good, quick read.
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