The Day I Became an Autodidact by Kendall Hailey

First published: 1988

Type of work: Diary

Time of work: The 1980’s

Locale: Los Angeles, California

Principal Personages:

• Kendall Hailey, a young woman who describes her education from ages fifteen through nineteen
• Oliver Hailey, a playwright and the father of Kendall Hailey
• Elizabeth Forsythe Hailey, a novelist and the mother of Kendall Hailey

Form and Content

When fifteen-year-old Kendall Hailey received a mandatory summer reading list from her private high school, she realized that she did not like an impartial list dictating her reading habits. She decided that day to become an autodidact, or “self-taught person,” allowing her own interests to dictate what she studied. The Day I Became an Autodidact: And the Advice, Adventures, and Acrimonies That Befell Me Thereafter is Hailey’s very personal and amusing diary of the ensuing four years.

Her parents, playwright Oliver Hailey and acclaimed novelist Elizabeth Forsythe Hailey, had always encouraged Kendall to pursue her intellectual and cultural interests without limitations. When she proposed that she graduate a year early from high school and take a sabbatical from formal education before contemplating college, they encouraged her to take ten years if she so desired. Thus began Hailey’s exploration of the world through a variety of literary forms—fiction, biography, history, poetry, stageplays, and even films (primarily those from the 1930’s and 1940’s).

Since this sabbatical occurred in the 1980’s, an era of transition for women in general, young women such as Hailey were still in the process of developing their own voices and points of view. Her diary provides a clear perspective of what it was like to grow up during this period and offers an interesting approach to one woman’s attempt to take control of her present and future at a young but capable age.

The diary is organized into segments, each reflecting a period of Hailey’s self-taught years. Each section has a title which thematically relates to her attitude and experiences during the time described within it. The section headings also state what she hopes to do in the coming months, and the chapters culminate with a summary, in a few short phrases, reflecting what she actually accomplished. As Hailey’s one year off grows into four, the diary segments tend to reflect seasons or other enclosed periods of time, including several trips with her family that have distinctive beginnings and ends.

Hailey was fortunate to be able to remain at home with her talented family during these years, a situation that she appreciated. Her correspondence with several friends who made the immediate transition from high school to college is included, pointing out the differences between her unique experiences and theirs. She grapples with creating a course of study for herself which follows her interests, and she adopts many suggestions from family and friends. This plan leads to a more concentrated approach through works of particular historical periods, including plays and essays by great authors.

Hailey also indulges her interest in films, especially those from the 1930’s and 1940’s in which women have strong roles. Many of her favorite authors are also women, which is not surprising considering that her talented mother proves a quiet but distinctive influence on her attitudes and interests. Her father more directly encourages her attempts at writing, which culminate in several novels and plays created during this autodidactic period.

Much of Hailey’s diary focuses on her unique coming-of-age, including her attraction to the slightly younger Matthew Van Scoycks, the son of family friends. Although Matthew is a year behind Hailey in school, she considers him to be her best friend. Her growing attraction to him spawns a short play which takes place in a bar; it is chosen to be produced as part of an evening of short plays with such a setting. The evening also included a work by her father, making her debut as a playwright at age nineteen a triumph for them both.

Context

Hailey’s diary reflects what it was like for a young woman to grow up in a talented household in the 1980’s in Los Angeles. Pubishers Weekly likened Hailey to Holden Caulfield, predicting that she “is a phenomenon worth watching.” Yet, unlike J. D. Salinger’s character in The Catcher in the Rye (1951), Hailey’s approach to life is decidedly feminine, and her concerns and descriptions reflect this strongly. While her situation is nonpolitical, it deals with issues close to home for women and focuses on relationships both internal and external. Its main drawbacks are that Hailey’s perspective is somewhat limited, and readers do not know how her life evolved based on the insights and experience that she gained as an autodidact.

Although the book was not a best-seller, it was recommended by reviewers of books for young adults soon after its publication. It did not spawn a league of autodidacts, possibly because its approach reflects a personal and individual experience rather than spearheading the cause with evidence of beneficial results. As it does not describe how to become an autodidact, but merely Kendall Hailey’s experience when she approached her life in this way with her family’s support, it educates other autodidacts by example rather than by instruction.

How I Became an Autodidact deserves a place in collections of women’s diaries as an example of one young woman’s attempt to take control of her destiny. Hopefully, it will inspire others to pursue learning for its own sake rather than merely to earn college degrees, to dive into an exploration of the world’s culture rather than merely to postpone the transition from sheltered academia into the pains and pleasures of contemporary life.

Bibliography

Baldwin, Christina. One to One: Self-Understanding Through Journal Writing. New York: M. Evans, 1977. A small and friendly guidebook to creating a relationship with one’s own mind through journal writing. Baldwin describes the writing process and includes numerous examples of potential themes to be explored from experience, dreams, or inspiration. An appendix includes ideas on how to facilitate a journal-writing seminar, as well as a bibliography of works that will help diarists deal with memories, dreams, problem-solving, and language.

Booklist. LXXXIV, April 15, 1988, p. 1375.

Chicago Tribune. March 14, 1988, V, p. 3.

Dunaway, Phillip, and Mel Evans. A Treasury of the World’s Great Diaries. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1957. A collection of diary entries from youthful writers such as Anne Frank, explorers such as Davy Crockett, performers such as John Barrymore, and novelists such as Mark Twain and Louisa May Alcott. Provides insight into the diarists and the times in which they lived. The anthology separates the diary segments by themes, which offer unique perspectives into the personal lives of writers whom readers have come to know through fiction and into the writing abilities of others whose deeds have made them famous. Entries from nearly a hundred diarists are included, along with short biographies that place the writers and their works in historical perspective

Gross, Ronald. Peak Learning: A Master Course in Learning How to Learn. Los Angeles: Jeremy Tarcher, 1991. A unique guidebook in the art of learning, this work calls upon advances in neuroscience, cognitive studies, and developmental psychology. Applicable to technical or literary materials, Peak Learning provides tools that can be put into practice instantly and itself is an example of how to structure an autodidactic approach to learning any or all subjects. Eleven chapters, with overviews, examples, exercises, and illustrations, make up a complete course, peppered by inspirational quotes about learning, creativity, and the brain. A useful bibliography of other books that deal with the art of learning joins a well-detailed index.

Kirkus Reviews. LVI, January 15, 1988, p. 102.

Los Angeles Times. March 6, 1988, VI, p. 1.

Publishers Weekly. CCXXXIII, January 22, 1988, p. 93.

Wilson Library Bulletin. LXII, May, 1988, p. 78.