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sonyahu's review against another edition
5.0
I identified with many of the experiences in this book, and I appreciated Debra Monroe's excavation of Midwestern girlhood in particular. I loved her recreation of a world where prizes for figurative language are incomprehensible and prizes for "best sales record for radial tires in the tristate area" made sense. But what I value most is Monroe's lovely sentences. Her memoir rips along at a great pace, floating often above the level of scene in a storytelling voice that allows for analysis and essaying about the themes of work, ambition, class-jumping, and longing through such details as pronouncing "merlot" with the "t." As Monroe so deftly observes, you don't know the class you're in until you leave. This reminded me of Mary Clearman Blew's "This is Not the Ivy League," which is great company to be in.
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