Neko Case is a musical artist of influence and worldwide fame. Reading her new book offers you a healthy hint of the dry humor and poetic lyricism of her work. However, what it really gives off is the vibe of a survivalist --- someone whose young life was so rife with disappointment, fear and anxiety that even the most jaded reader will wonder just how this girl is going to grow up at all, let alone become a master of a difficult craft.

The hardscrabble insecurity of everything in THE HARDER I FIGHT THE MORE I LOVE YOU makes it a memoir that can stand proudly with the oeuvre of Mary Karr and Jeannette Walls, writers similar in bravura, bravery and intelligence. What we have here is a literary work of distinction and honesty.

"The hardscrabble insecurity of everything in THE HARDER I FIGHT THE MORE I LOVE YOU makes it a memoir that can stand proudly with the oeuvre of Mary Karr and Jeannette Walls... What we have here is a literary work of distinction and honesty."

The early years of Case’s life are built around a family insecurity like no other. She is told as a middle-schooler that her mother has died. However, after living with her depressed father and growing on a steady diet of cheese and bread, Case finds out she is still alive. And yes, I screamed out loud. From then on, regardless of her literary wiles, Case had me in the palm of her hand.

There are gentle moments of being the only child in a dismissive family. Case is left to her own devices all summer long, and her loneliness overwhelms her like the drugs and alcohol that the adults in her life depend on. When she complains about being alone, she is dumped at a nearby family’s home where the kids fend for themselves. There is a lot of TV watching, but Case prefers being outside, which leads to some of the only calm moments in her entire childhood. She describes dire circumstances and even more dire examples of adult irresponsibility. The juxtaposition of these encounters is what gives the book a drive that moves the reader forward even when it’s hard to read about such abandonment.

“As long as I can remember I have loved music. A huge cliché for a musician’s story, I know, but I had no idea how crazy I was about it even as it was burning me down. I listened to it as much as possible; it filled every nook and cranny of my life and nothing fun was worth doing if there wasn’t music being played in the background. It was important in a way I couldn’t see, let alone acknowledge.” And so early on, Case finds the perfect nook in which to hide from the uneasy relationships with the sad, depressed, substance-abusing adults in whose care she must stay.

Moving back and forth across the country, Case builds up a series of survival tactics --- thrifted clothing, books and music from the school library, the occasional friendship --- that resonate in the gorgeous work that she eventually produced. THE HARDER I FIGHT THE MORE I LOVE YOU reads like a beautifully imagined and moving piece of fiction. Her careful eye brings every person she meets into sharp focus for the reader.

When Case finally goes off on her own and tends to her artistic gifts, the memoir makes a Sisyphean jump towards an understanding of all that has happened to her and how it has made her what she is today. With memories like this, a more angry tome might be expected. But the care and compassion found in Case’s work give brilliant illumination to the lessons that her shaky start helped her learn.