Ouch, Now I Remember Reflecting on an Earlier Time

The author picks up where he left off in a witty memoir of his academic and policy careers in “Browsing through My Candy Store.” In this equally hilarious book, Tom Corbett brings us back to the post-World War II period, where he came of age in a rough and tumble ethnic, working-class neighborhood. From a kid who showed no promise whatsoever, he underwent a series of transformative experiences from Catholic seminary training to the leader of a left-wing college group through Peace Corps service in India. His journey of self-discovery takes us through several early endeavors, such as guarding city sewers, tending hospital patients during the graveyard shift, reaching out to desperately poor kids in a distressed neighborhood, and faking it as an agricultural guru in the deserts of Rajasthan. Somehow, despite much incompetence and self-doubt, the author used grit and charm and serendipity to fall into a fulfilling career as a respected academic and policy wonk. “Ouch, Now I Remember” is a story that brings you back in time, helps you laugh a bit, and recalls a lost era. The reader might even shed a tear or two.