''Seldom Disappointed: A Memoir'' is the 2001 autobiography of author

Tony Hillerman Anthony Grove Hillerman (May 27, 1925 – October 26, 2008) was an American author of detective novels and nonfiction works, best known for his mystery novels featuring Navajo Nation Police officers Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee. Several of his w ...

. The title reflects the attitude that he learned as a child living on a farm in Oklahoma; if one learns not to have unrealistic expectations, one will often be pleasantly surprised and seldom disappointed.

Reception

The work was well received, with the ''

New York Times Book Review ''The New York Times Book Review'' (''NYTBR'') is a weekly paper-magazine supplement to the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times'' in which current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed. It is one of the most influential and widely read ...

'' stating that Hillerman "is an expert at knowing what to leave out, and at making what he leaves in cut to the bone without seeming overwrought", and further that the prose is "laced with humor and worldly wisdom"; stating that "''Seldom Disappointed'' is a splendid and disarming remembrance of things past". It was also well reviewed by David Langness, for ''

Paste Paste is a term for any very thick viscous fluid. It may refer to: Science and technology * Adhesive or paste ** Wallpaper paste ** Wheatpaste, A liquid adhesive made from vegetable starch and water * Paste (rheology), a substance that behaves a ...

'' magazine, who called the book "touching", "modest" and "powerful", and stated that "''Seldom Disappointed'' unfolds with the quiet country cadences of the storytellers that consistently suffuse Hillerman's prose" and praising its "hilarious, perverse black humor".

Awards

*2001

Agatha Award The Agatha Awards, named for Agatha Christie, are literary awards for mystery and crime writers who write in the traditional mystery subgenre: "books typified by the works of Agatha Christie . . . loosely defined as mysteries that contain no expli ...

, best non-fiction work *

2002 Anthony Award Bouchercon is an annual convention of creators and devotees of mystery and detective fiction. It is named in honour of writer, reviewer, and editor Anthony Boucher; also the inspiration for the Anthony Awards, which have been issued at the conve ...

, best non-fiction / critical work *2002

Macavity Award The Macavity Awards are a literary award for mystery writers. Nominated and voted upon annually by the members of the Mystery Readers International, the award is named for the " mystery cat" of T. S. Eliot's ''Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats''. ...

nomination, best biographical / critical mystery work

References

{{Tony Hillerman 2001 non-fiction books Books by Tony Hillerman Agatha Award-winning works Anthony Award-winning works HarperCollins books Books about New Mexico American memoirs