'Diary of a Misfit' blends reportage, research and memoir
Washington Post reporter Casey Parks' first book, Diary of a Misfit: A Memoir and a Mystery, follows her attempts to uncover Roy Hudgins' story while rediscovering her own along the way.
Lineages are complex. Some people can trace theirs back centuries; others can only go so far back before wars, genocides, the transatlantic slave trade, and other horrors interrupt recorded history; still others don't know their origins at all.
But not all lineages are familial, and not all ancestors are related by blood or marriage. Sometimes, we find or go searching for figures from the past because we're seeking to recognize some part of ourselves that we don't see mirrored in our families or communities.
For Casey Parks, a journalist for, Roy Hudgins was that person. And her first book, follows her attempts to uncover his story while rediscovering her own along the way.
