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Book Nook: Burn Down the Ground, Kambri Crews

Kambri Crews grew up in a rather unusual family. Both of her parents are deaf. Kambri and her brother were granted extraordinary freedoms. Their parents couldn't hear what the kids were up to and Kambri and her brother could hear perfectly well. So they got into lots of mischief.

When Kambri was a young girl the family moved out to the middle of nowhere, a densely wooded Texas acreage. They lived in primitive conditions. Her parents were often on the verge of breaking up.

In her memoir "Burn Down the Ground" she describes how her parents finally separated. After that her dad began his long slide downward. He abused alcohol and he committed acts of violence. He is now incarcerated in prison.

In this interview we revisit some of the bittersweet memories contained within "Burn Down the Ground." This page turner has moments of tenderness, humor, eccentricity, and wretched excess.

 

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Vick Mickunas is the host of Book Nook on WYSO, which he created in 1994. He has conducted more than 1,700 author interviews, from Studs Terkel to Lee Child to John Glenn. He is a book critic for the Dayton Daily News and the Springfield News-Sun.