Too Close to the Sun: Growing Up in the Shadow of My Grandparents, Franklin and Eleanor

by Curtis Roosevelt (Author)

• Used

  Hardcover
  2008

  $4.11

  This vivid, honest memoir of growing up in the Roosevelt White House during the Great Depression is a delicious read for anyone interested in American history or the presidency.Curtis Roosevelt was born five and half months after Black Tuesday, when the New York Stock Exchange crash in October, 1929, paved the way, not only for the Great Depression, but also, for his grandfather's presidency. History had his family in its grip, and he had no choice but to go along for the ride.Just three years old, Curtis arrived at his grandparents' household at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue only a very short time after they themselves had begun to unpack. He and his sister, Eleanor, were the country's 'First Grandchildren', a pint-sized double act, known to the media as Sistie and Buzzie (pronounced as one word). Too Close to the Sun is his intimate account of growing up in the Roosevelt White House. With nostalgia and candour, Roosevelt describes his role as a tiny planet circling the dual suns of his grandfather and grandmother, known to him as Papa and Grandmere. Blending self-abasement, humour, resentment and affection, Roosevelt describes the emotional impact of living his formative years with two larger-than-life figures, of having little identity beyond being one-half of the Sistie and Buzzie show, and of being kept on a short leash by everyone from his grandmother to his bodyguard. Too Close to the Sun offers a rich chronicle of daily life in the Depression era White House and a moving tale of coming to terms with an untraditional childhood. It is also a fascinating portrait of arguably the most influential and inspirational figure in modern American history. Curtis Roosevelt was there. And he will take readers along with him, into the long-ago world that formed him-for better or for worse.

• Used

  Paperback
  2009

  $9.74

  This vivid, honest memoir of growing up in the Roosevelt White House during the Great Depression is a delicious read for anyone interested in American history or the presidency. Curtis Roosevelt was born five and half months after Black Tuesday, when the New York Stock Exchange crash in October, 1929, paved the way, not only for the Great Depression, but also, for his grandfather's presidency. History had his family in its grip, and he had no choice but to go along for the ride. Just three years old, Curtis arrived at his grandparents' household at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue only a very short time after they themselves had begun to unpack. He and his sister, Eleanor, were the country's 'First Grandchildren', a pint-sized double act, known to the media as Sistie and Buzzie (pronounced as one word). Too Close to the Sun is his intimate account of growing up in the Roosevelt White House. With nostalgia and candour, Roosevelt describes his role as a tiny planet circling the dual suns of his grandfather and grandmother, known to him as Papa and Grandmere. Blending self-abasement, humour, resentment and affection, Roosevelt describes the emotional impact of living his formative years with two larger-than-life figures, of having little identity beyond being one-half of the Sistie and Buzzie show, and of being kept on a short leash by everyone from his grandmother to his bodyguard. Too Close to the Sun offers a rich chronicle of daily life in the Depression era White House and a moving tale of coming to terms with an untraditional childhood. It is also a fascinating portrait of arguably the most influential and inspirational figure in modern American history. Curtis Roosevelt was there. And he will take readers along with him, into the long-ago world that formed him - for better or for worse.