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jacki_f's review against another edition
4.0
It seems kind of appropriate given the book's title that I am undecided between giving it three stars or four. I loved, loved, loved the first half and then felt like it lost its way in the second half. In the end I've rounded up because the way that Bella Pollen can craft a sentence is just brilliant. Sometimes poignant, sometimes thought-provoking and often hilarious.
Bella Pollen - I must have heard of her before reading this book but the name meant nothing to me when I picked it up. Her first career was as a fashion designer and she frequently dressed Diana Princess of Wales. (There is very little mention of her career in this book and absolutely none of Diana or any of her other celebrity clients). She then turned to writing and has written several novels, including one which I own but have never got round to reading. (Along with about 500 other books). Again, there is very little mention of her writing career in this book.
So what is it about? Her childhood in Manhattan, her first marriage to the son of an Italian Godfather, her relationship with her children and her parents. And most of all, about her restless nature which takes her to live in a variety of isolated places and embark on crazy adventures like deciding to sneak across the border from Mexico into the US without being detected. It's a disjointed collection of anecdotes and character studies which somehow works because of her honest confessional tone and enviable way with words. I throughly enjoyed this - particularly the first half.
Bella Pollen - I must have heard of her before reading this book but the name meant nothing to me when I picked it up. Her first career was as a fashion designer and she frequently dressed Diana Princess of Wales. (There is very little mention of her career in this book and absolutely none of Diana or any of her other celebrity clients). She then turned to writing and has written several novels, including one which I own but have never got round to reading. (Along with about 500 other books). Again, there is very little mention of her writing career in this book.
So what is it about? Her childhood in Manhattan, her first marriage to the son of an Italian Godfather, her relationship with her children and her parents. And most of all, about her restless nature which takes her to live in a variety of isolated places and embark on crazy adventures like deciding to sneak across the border from Mexico into the US without being detected. It's a disjointed collection of anecdotes and character studies which somehow works because of her honest confessional tone and enviable way with words. I throughly enjoyed this - particularly the first half.
petra_reads's review against another edition
2.0
I should have given up when the incubus turned up in chapter one. But as ever, my stupid persistence kept telling me to give it a chance. I feel bad being so negative. After all, this is the author's memoir, so criticizing anything about it feels kind of wrong. But honestly, I didn't enjoy this. Some of that was due to the style. It was delivered in a smug tone that I just didn't like. It was overwritten, trying too hard. Then there were some elements relating to race, nationalities, and descriptions of people that I believe the author intended to be amusing (at least I hope so), but I didn't find those funny at all. Reading somebody's memoir is all about getting to know that particular person, and in this case, the author and I just didn't click.
At times, I felt I was reading short fictional stories rather than an autobiographical account. It seemed like a collection of stories from somebody extremely privileged and I just couldn't muster up any empathy. Not many people can just take off when they feel boxed in, in particular when you're a mother.
The best part of this was right at the end when the author talks about her relationship with her father. If there had been more of that same poignancy and the same level of sincere feelings that I could have related to, I would have enjoyed this a lot more.
So, sadly, this wasn't for me, but if you're looking for something a bit different and very quirky, and you can relate to the privileged POV, you will enjoy this a lot more than I did. The second star is basically on the account of the parts about the father - daughter relationship. Apologies for my negativity.
I received an ARC via NetGalley.
At times, I felt I was reading short fictional stories rather than an autobiographical account. It seemed like a collection of stories from somebody extremely privileged and I just couldn't muster up any empathy. Not many people can just take off when they feel boxed in, in particular when you're a mother.
The best part of this was right at the end when the author talks about her relationship with her father. If there had been more of that same poignancy and the same level of sincere feelings that I could have related to, I would have enjoyed this a lot more.
So, sadly, this wasn't for me, but if you're looking for something a bit different and very quirky, and you can relate to the privileged POV, you will enjoy this a lot more than I did. The second star is basically on the account of the parts about the father - daughter relationship. Apologies for my negativity.
I received an ARC via NetGalley.
pallavi_sharma87's review against another edition
3.0
3.5
"When some nosy, insensitive small-talker asks me what I do, I take a deep breath and muster as much dignity as possible before replying."
"I do my best."
This is the kind of lines that you will find when you read this book. Super quirky, ironic and as the author says "zero-politeness". The memoir starts with author's childhood memories, her being the mid child among three, a world full of sibling fights and playing favourite of parents.
I loved that part, the childhood.
Then author is torn between her parents divorce, moving around, school/college, new found freedom, drugs, sex etc and also her demon- DEPRESSION.
Her marriage to Giacomo, an Italian with a big family where his father is a Godfather, is narrated in a very amusingly hilarious way. But somehow she has masked the heartaches/disappointments that build up in a marriage and has tried to put forth what she really enjoyed in front of us.
Last part is more about her second marriage, its struggle, being a super mom , trying to open the border crisis in Mexico and her relationship with her Father.
Summing up, it was altogether a enlightening read (a memoir always is!). I liked that she talked about her problems, with an optimism and a complete acceptance which really is great and only a powerful soul can do that. Yet, some parts in the middle were completely off for me and I couldn't understand it much. Narration was great and I am happy that I feel acquainted with Bella Pollen through her memoir :)
ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making this available!
"When some nosy, insensitive small-talker asks me what I do, I take a deep breath and muster as much dignity as possible before replying."
"I do my best."
This is the kind of lines that you will find when you read this book. Super quirky, ironic and as the author says "zero-politeness". The memoir starts with author's childhood memories, her being the mid child among three, a world full of sibling fights and playing favourite of parents.
I loved that part, the childhood.
Then author is torn between her parents divorce, moving around, school/college, new found freedom, drugs, sex etc and also her demon- DEPRESSION.
Her marriage to Giacomo, an Italian with a big family where his father is a Godfather, is narrated in a very amusingly hilarious way. But somehow she has masked the heartaches/disappointments that build up in a marriage and has tried to put forth what she really enjoyed in front of us.
Last part is more about her second marriage, its struggle, being a super mom , trying to open the border crisis in Mexico and her relationship with her Father.
Summing up, it was altogether a enlightening read (a memoir always is!). I liked that she talked about her problems, with an optimism and a complete acceptance which really is great and only a powerful soul can do that. Yet, some parts in the middle were completely off for me and I couldn't understand it much. Narration was great and I am happy that I feel acquainted with Bella Pollen through her memoir :)
ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making this available!
thoughtsonbooks's review against another edition
2.0
This book is gonna be hard to review because I really, really did not enjoy it. At all. But I dislike giving memoirs a negative review because, well, this is somebody's life I am talking about and I just don't feel particularly comfortable being negative about that.
The book and me started on the wrong foot - because it starts with a sex ghost. An honest-to-god sex ghost that is visiting Bella Pollen in her sleep and wakes her up and makes her orgasm. This reoccuring visitation is her starting point to (re-)evaluate her life and her choices and what made her end up at this place - being haunted. Then, we go back in time to her childhood in New York and her father buying a parrot - a parrot that happens to be racist towards their maid, and towards Bella herself because she has decided that a preccocious child wearing an afro-wig is the kind of child she wants to be. And it turns out, while I enjoy quirkiness in novels, I apparently do not enjoy this kind of quirkiness in memoirs, especially if it told this matter of factly. The rest of the book stays this removed from normality, chronicling her life with her maybe-mafioso ex-husband, her relationship with Mac, her quintessentially English second husband, a weirdly long interlude about her obsession with wanting to cross the Mexican/US-American border on foot, and other mostly weird stories about her life in the "In-Between".
My main issue with the book, however, regardless of its quirkiness, is Bella herself. I think I would have been fine with the quirkiness, if she had been more self-aware, or honest maybe? It always feels like she is putting on a show, a show that she thinks will make herself look good. But that did not happen for me; I found her to be very close to insufferable. She is beyond privileged and never acknowledges it, I mean, who has the money to start their own designer brand at the age of twenty without having a degree or anything related? Who has the money to own a house in the American West AND a flat in London? Most of all, she is mean in the way she decides to describe everybody she encounters, especially those in more difficult situations. For example, she describes one of the women she employs to clean for her as having a face like a fish -I can't recall what kind of fish, but the point still stands - that was uncalled for. I think I could have lived with that meaness, if it had been counterbalanced by humour or wit or humility, but as it stands it made me deeply uncomfortable.
I am still giving this book two stars because for some reason it was in points compulsively readable and she has a way of painting vivid pictures of the world she encounters, even if she chooses to be mean about it.
_____
I received an arc of this book curtesy of NetGalley and Grove Atlantic in exchange for an honest review. Thanks for that!
The book and me started on the wrong foot - because it starts with a sex ghost. An honest-to-god sex ghost that is visiting Bella Pollen in her sleep and wakes her up and makes her orgasm. This reoccuring visitation is her starting point to (re-)evaluate her life and her choices and what made her end up at this place - being haunted. Then, we go back in time to her childhood in New York and her father buying a parrot - a parrot that happens to be racist towards their maid, and towards Bella herself because she has decided that a preccocious child wearing an afro-wig is the kind of child she wants to be. And it turns out, while I enjoy quirkiness in novels, I apparently do not enjoy this kind of quirkiness in memoirs, especially if it told this matter of factly. The rest of the book stays this removed from normality, chronicling her life with her maybe-mafioso ex-husband, her relationship with Mac, her quintessentially English second husband, a weirdly long interlude about her obsession with wanting to cross the Mexican/US-American border on foot, and other mostly weird stories about her life in the "In-Between".
My main issue with the book, however, regardless of its quirkiness, is Bella herself. I think I would have been fine with the quirkiness, if she had been more self-aware, or honest maybe? It always feels like she is putting on a show, a show that she thinks will make herself look good. But that did not happen for me; I found her to be very close to insufferable. She is beyond privileged and never acknowledges it, I mean, who has the money to start their own designer brand at the age of twenty without having a degree or anything related? Who has the money to own a house in the American West AND a flat in London? Most of all, she is mean in the way she decides to describe everybody she encounters, especially those in more difficult situations. For example, she describes one of the women she employs to clean for her as having a face like a fish -I can't recall what kind of fish, but the point still stands - that was uncalled for. I think I could have lived with that meaness, if it had been counterbalanced by humour or wit or humility, but as it stands it made me deeply uncomfortable.
I am still giving this book two stars because for some reason it was in points compulsively readable and she has a way of painting vivid pictures of the world she encounters, even if she chooses to be mean about it.
_____
I received an arc of this book curtesy of NetGalley and Grove Atlantic in exchange for an honest review. Thanks for that!
row's review against another edition
2.0
I wanted to enjoy this. But in terms of a text it was patchy. And in terms of the author, I actively disliked her by the end. And I liked her books, so that was sad.
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