A Visit from the Goon Squad is another multiple point-of-view novel, though unlike another recent listen, The Mare, which included two primary and a few supplementing POVs, this book by Egan took a much more kaleidoscopic POV approach. The end comes back to the beginning, though twenty-plus years after the beginning, with the middle dipping … Continue reading A Visit from the Goon Squad (Jennifer Egan)
The Mare is one of those novels with multiple voices, the same story told from a few perspectives. This one addressed class, race, privilege, propriety, paternalism, and the ill-conceived and self-congratulatory farce of "making a difference." And it did this addressing by showing, rather than telling, and included apt sensory language around emotion, and language, … Continue reading The Mare (Mary Gaitskill)
Things No One Will Tell Fat Girls: A Handbook for Unapologetic Living was my antidote for self-hatred. It was not effective. For years I've avoided the body/fat acceptance movement. I've nodded along blithely as friends have extolled the virtues, I've agreed with the "fitness at every size" model. But I've held myself at arms length … Continue reading Things No One Will Tell Fat Girls: A Handbook for Unapologetic Living (Jes Baker)
I am not sure how It Was Me All Along came into my queue. I think it was a library recommendation based on the high number of memoirs I consume. I downloaded it without reading the description. Upon listening, my breath caught in my throat. Her descriptions of food, in terms sensual but never tawdry, were … Continue reading It Was Me All Along (Andie Mitchell)
In general, I enjoy a good memoir, and it happens that celebrities get a lot of memoirs published. There are the comedic ones, like Samantha Bee's I Know I am But What Are You?, Tina Fey's Bossypants, Mindy Kaling's Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns), Jane Lynch's Happy Accidents, Amy Poehler's Yes … Continue reading Celebrity Memoir
Spark Joy: An Illustrated Master Class on the Art of Organizing and Tidying Up, the follow-up to The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, delves further into suggestions for how to implement what the first book outlines. By demonstrating how the relationship with material goods is one of mutual support, Kondō (aka KonMari) asserts that our relationship with … Continue reading Spark Joy (Marie Kondō)
Bastards was sharp and with a self-reflective insight I found impressive, given the relative youth of the author. A memoir whose culminating moment is at the tender age of 27 could give rise to skepticism, but I found this telling both moving and thoughtful. It left me ruminating on family, and biology, and adoption, and … Continue reading Bastards (Mary Anna King)
