Hello Everyone!
I love Jenny Lawson. She is a like if Wednesday Addams grew up to be a mother and author who cursed with gusto and had a strange fascination with taxidermy. Jenny is 100% honest and is one of the most unapologetic people that I know of. She isn’t unapologetic in a bossy, awful way that makes you feel looked down upon for not starting a movement or drinking a green tea latte. No. She is one of those people who gives so few F’s about the social structures of the world or other’s perceptions of her. The whole reason she wrote Let’s Pretend This Never Happened was to reveal the stuff that happened to her that most people would want to forget. Not her. She lets her freak flag fly and it is amazing. I want to be her friend. When I read Furiously Happy for the first time I was amazed by the way that Jenny discussed her life, specifically life’s ups and downs and her battle with mental illness. It would be so easy for someone to write a memoir about themselves and make it look like their life was carefree and perfect. I could understand why someone would want to do that. Sharing the dark parts of life with other people is scary and intimidating and it is even worse when you are sharing those parts of yourself with millions of people that you don’t know. However, Jenny doesn’t shy away from the dark stuff. One chapter she has you rolling on the floor, laughing about how she inseminated a cow, and the next she has you pondering the tragedy of miscarriages. While she mentions that she wishes that there is some way to write darkly funny chapters about death, there isn’t. Which is fine, because the way that she writes about the dark parts of her life is so moving that it doesn’t need to be padded with comedy. It is even more moving to hear Jenny read these dark chapters. You can hear her tone change. You can feel her carefully reading every word. It is sad and honest in a way that is commendable at the least and utterly moving at the most. However, Jenny doesn’t let you sit in sorrow for long. Somehow you will find yourself laughing again and it will be alright. The tone of the book ebbs and flows in a way that mimics natural way that life moves. It puts you on a roller coaster with no security locks or seat belts and you just have to be along for the ride. It is worth it though because it is a beautiful ride.
There are some parts of this book that I didn’t like. I didn’t like the sound effects that were added to the audiobook. They were inconsistent and gross. I also didn’t like that Jenny sang all of the titles of each chapter, except for the Epilogue. It wasn’t as endearing as I thought that it would be and it made me want to fast forward through the introduction of every chapter. This book is also not for the faint of heart. I was very prepared for all of the stories of taxidermy and death, but there were a lot of guts, liquids and vultures that I was not prepared for. This is like the sequel to a movie rated PG, where the studio decided that they wanted to make a movie for a more mature audience. This book isn’t a sequel but I hope understand my analogy. I will also quote my review of Furiously Happy and note that, “The entire novel contains a generous about of cursing and religious pokes. Lawson’s father is Christian, her mother is Atheist and Lawson herself stands somewhere in the middle without being too religious. This means that there are various levels of poking humor or off handed comments about religion that might be offensive to some readers. Due to the cursing primarily, I wouldn’t recommend this book for younger, less mature readers.” I was never offended by this book, but it is an important part of the book that should be noted.
Overall, I did very much enjoy this book. Although I did like seeing the pictures that Jenny mentions, I think hearing Jenny read her book is one of the most enjoyable things imaginable. It is less like you are listening to an audiobook and more like you are listening to Jenny tell you a bunch of ridiculous stories. I listened to this book over the course of four days, which is an audiobook record for me. Usually, I listen to audiobooks before I go to bed. However, with this book I found myself designating time to sit on my couch with a bowl of ice cream and a fuzzy blanket and just listen for hours. If you want a heartwarming book that will make you laugh, and also a really great audiobook recommendation, look no further than this book.
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
90% out of 100%
-Jaime
PS. It's almost summer time for me! Thank goodness. I am going to write another post about this but I almost killed myself with work this semester. I am not one to admit when I have overloaded myself but since I wasn't sleeping and looked like a complete train wreck, I didn't have to. It was already obvious. I finish my work study job this Friday, which I have a feeling I will really miss. However, that means that my semester will be officially over and that I will have time to start writing posts more often. I would like to write one or two a week, but I am not going to make this another thing that stresses me out, so we will just have to see. The good news is that I have already read more books this year than I did last year and I am really enjoying reading at the moment. Here's to not having another reading slump this summer!