My Grandfather's Son: A Memoir.

• Author: Pastorin, Spencer L.
• Position: Book review

My Grandfather's Son

By Clarence Thomas

Subtitled, "A Memoir," this book details Associate Justice Clarence Thomas' life from his childhood, including his early memories of his life in Pinpoint, Georgia, moving to squalor to the African-American neighborhood of Savannah, Georgia, and then his formative, primary and secondary years growing up in the strict household of his grandfather, whom he called, "Daddy."

The hardship of being born and raised black in the South is very much the theme in the early part of his memoir. His autobiography also outlines how being raised in a pre-Vatican II Catholic Church was, at least in the early years, a comfort as it reinforced discipline. The strict rules of his grandfather gave him purpose to succeed, whereas his father, whom he saw only twice in his life, was a reminder that failure could happen at any time.

When he decided not to complete his seminary studies because of his struggles with the Catholic Church and its treatment of the African-American in society, Clarence Thomas went through a period of rebellion against his upbringing. He was able to experience and observe some of the changes of the 1960s and early 1970s.

Despite living through this interesting time, he read Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead and was exposed to objectivism. Although he did not fully accept the tenets of Ayn Rand's vision of the world and its philosophy of radical individualism, he found her ideals more in line than his "left-wing friends."

His life story...