Mountain or Molehill?

Inheritance 

by Dani Shapiro

Alfred A. Knopf, 2019

Even though I became a bit disgusted, I read the book to the end.  How Shapiro managed to make a full-length memoir out of this event in her life was impressive. I kept wondering if this discovery–that one’s father was not the biological parent–could be that traumatic.  The answer, for me, was “no.”

The word “self-indulgent” comes to mind about the author, and perhaps, also, “drama queen.”

However, the actual situation brings up a lot of ethical and scientific questions that are certainly important and valid.  With DNA testing, and the sharing of data from 23andMe, Ancestry.com, etc., we are confronted with issues of privacy and anonymity.

As far as the book goes, I would advise reading the summary, and bypassing the memoir.