Linda St. John: Even Dogs Go Home To Die: A Memoir

In snapshot pictures of her life, acclaimed "outsider" artist Linda St John tells the story of her dirt-poor childhood in southern Illinois - her father's casual brutality and her mother's cruel indifference - and, finally, through her father's illness, the redemptive power of love.

In prose as haunting as it is precise, 'Even Dogs Go Home To Die' is one of the most original, moving, funny and heartbreaking memoirs of recent years.