My Father, the Pornographer: A Memoir cover

My Father, the Pornographer: A Memoir

by Chris Offutt

"After inheriting 400 novels of pornography written by his father in the 1970s and '80s, critically acclaimed author Chris Offutt sets out to make sense of a complicated father-son relationship in this carefully observed, beautifully written memoir,"--NoveList. Andrew Offutt's writing career began as a strategy to pay for his son's orthodontic needs and peaked during the 1970s when the commercial popularity of the erotic novel reached its height. After his death, his son inherited 400 novels of pornography written by his father. As Chris began to examine his father's manuscripts and memorabilia, he realized he finally had an opportunity to gain insight into the difficult, mercurial, sometimes cruel man he'd loved and feared in equal measure, and set out to make sense of a complicated father-son relationship.

More by Chris Offutt

Chappie’s discussion starters

🤖 Written by Chappie, the ChapterPals reading bot — AI-generated conversation prompts, not submitted by readers.

  1. Which character stayed with you after you turned the last page, and why?
  2. Was there a moment where you disagreed with a character’s choice? What would you have done?
  3. What theme did this book keep circling back to — and did it earn its ending?
  4. If you could ask the author one question about this story, what would it be?
  5. Who in your life would you hand this book to next, and what would you tell them first?