My father is a criminal; my mother is a lapsed Jew turned Buddhist hippie. Throughout my childhood I lived two lives, shuttling between them on two continents.
This is the true story of Oren Siedler. Born in the United States, when she was eight she came to live in Australia with her mother and stepfather, leaving her father behind. However, Bruce, her father, insisted on being part of Oren’s life, and so she spent much of her childhood dividing her time between living with her mother on a Buddhist retreat in Australia and living on the road with her father in America. Bruce, her father, was a criminal, making his living through scamming banks, and Oren was regularly drawn into these scams, an unwitting participant.
Bruce & Me chronicles this unconventional childhood as well as Siedler’s quest in her adult years to understand her father and her unconventional relationship with both of her parents. The story is an intriguing mix of humour, pathos and intrigue, especially when one is reminded that this is a true story.
Bruce & Me, by Oren Siedler
Random House, 2009
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