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4.26 AVERAGE
4.26 AVERAGE
I laughed out loud at several points in this book, which I appreciate.
Sad, awkward, hilarious. Highly recommended for adults.
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
4.5 Thankful to have Allie back in my life. I'm still catching up on all of her personal backstory of the last 7 years that she's been sharing on FB, but much of what she went through is touched on here. There were a few stories that didn't work as well, but some were peak perfection - insightful, a little sad, brutally honest, and hilarious. Favorites were: Bucket, Cat, Fish Video, and the end essay, the uplifting gut punch of Friend.
I originally wasn't going to pick up this book. I read Hyperbole and a Half The Book, and it was fine, but I found that what I loved about Brosh's work — the weirdness, the silliness, the seriousness — it all seemed to work better in the blog format, where I wasn't just reading post after post. There was a break between each of the blog posts, and you had to WAIT, and that made every reading experience magical. So I expected that would happen going into this one too, until I read the chapter of this book she posted on her blog as a teaser, and it made me laugh until I cried.
And sure, Solutions had those moments at the beginning where I wondered if I wouldn't enjoy this more in blog form, but then. Oh. I can see why this needed to be a book and not a series of stories on the internet, and why it took so long for this book to come to fruition. This is HEAVY with grief and loss, and depression, and struggling to find meaning, and yet somehow Brosh still made me laugh until I cried at several points; at her stories about buying bananas with her ex-husband, and the little neighbor girl who desperately wanted Brosh to come over to see her room??
And sometimes we just need to laugh until we cry.
And sure, Solutions had those moments at the beginning where I wondered if I wouldn't enjoy this more in blog form, but then. Oh. I can see why this needed to be a book and not a series of stories on the internet, and why it took so long for this book to come to fruition. This is HEAVY with grief and loss, and depression, and struggling to find meaning, and yet somehow Brosh still made me laugh until I cried at several points; at her stories about buying bananas with her ex-husband, and the little neighbor girl who desperately wanted Brosh to come over to see her room??
And sometimes we just need to laugh until we cry.
This is hard to rate/review. The author has gone through some pretty horrible things and while I enjoyed some of the chapters, I mostly found myself thinking: what??
I could compare this to Jenny Lawson’s Furiously Happy: A Funny Book about Horrible Things, and if you like one you will like the other, but there’s something about this memoir that leaves me both deeply affected and wondering ‘what in the eff did I just read?” Allie Brosh’s writing, and honestly her whole take on reality/life as we understand and relate to it, resonates with me in a way that I find deeply uncomfortable, yet I feel fully seen in a way that I don’t know that I ever have been.
I too was an unfailingly odd, somewhat unstable, child that was almost perpetually perplexed by just about everything happening around me and thus did, and thought, truly bizarre things in response. (I did not actually try to wedge myself repeatedly into a bucket, but at the age of 4 did launch myself off the neighbor’s porch face first because I was convinced, I would naturally be able to hover and then lightly touch-down with my feet.) As an adult, I have also not left the house or altered plans so I was not accosted by the child from next door, and get irreparably unnerved when inanimate technological objects are too ‘chatty’ or ‘friendly’ with me.
In short I often feel like a “pointless little weirdo” and want to say, “Thank You Allie Brosh, because now I feel I am much less alone.”
I too was an unfailingly odd, somewhat unstable, child that was almost perpetually perplexed by just about everything happening around me and thus did, and thought, truly bizarre things in response. (I did not actually try to wedge myself repeatedly into a bucket, but at the age of 4 did launch myself off the neighbor’s porch face first because I was convinced, I would naturally be able to hover and then lightly touch-down with my feet.) As an adult, I have also not left the house or altered plans so I was not accosted by the child from next door, and get irreparably unnerved when inanimate technological objects are too ‘chatty’ or ‘friendly’ with me.
In short I often feel like a “pointless little weirdo” and want to say, “Thank You Allie Brosh, because now I feel I am much less alone.”
Allie helps me feel more ok about being a weirdo! Thanks, Allie!
Although difficult to categorize, this book is a mashup of biographical essays, graphic novel, & humor. It was a joy to spend time with this book. I love the illustration style, and that Allie doesn't shy away from being authentic about grief and mental illness.
If you're not already an fan of Allie's and you decide to give this a try, go into it knowing that not all the "chapters" may hit for you, but keep going anyway!
Although difficult to categorize, this book is a mashup of biographical essays, graphic novel, & humor. It was a joy to spend time with this book. I love the illustration style, and that Allie doesn't shy away from being authentic about grief and mental illness.
If you're not already an fan of Allie's and you decide to give this a try, go into it knowing that not all the "chapters" may hit for you, but keep going anyway!
The weird thing you just needed in 2020. That was this book for me.
Through cartooned drawings, Allie dives into some of the most memorable [and downright hilarious] parts of her childhood and her past. She covers some heavier mental health topics with wit, humor, and honestly grace - even if her childhood version of herself does not. This was... One of my favorite books to read. One that I enjoyed in a way I haven't enjoyed a book in a while. I felt this book was relatable at so many points - as I myself grew up just a weird-ass kid. It was nice to laugh out loud at some of the strangeness, and reflect on it from my now adulthood.
I loved literally everything about this book.
I loved literally everything about this book.