Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.3 AVERAGE
3.3 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
fast-paced
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
Susanna decides to not go to her mother's bedside after she's been in a nearly-fatal accident. The bulk of recovery work falls to her sister, who makes the trek to South America to care for their illing mother. Susanna looks like the bad daughter.
But when you've grown up with a cocaine-using, pill-popping, self-absorbed pathological liar for a mother, what can you expect?
Susanna tells the story of the complex, twisted relationship she has with her mother, ranging from moments of complete disgust to enthrallment. There's no denying her mother has a charm and wit about her that draws people in. It's just that no one knows what it's like to be forever caught in her web quite like Susanna does.
I admired Susanna's brash honesty, especially on the topics of her own life (sexual promiscuity, abortion) and felt she did a great job of depicting the way she longed to be free of her mother while at the same time wanted nothing more than to be a shining star upon her arm.
But when you've grown up with a cocaine-using, pill-popping, self-absorbed pathological liar for a mother, what can you expect?
Susanna tells the story of the complex, twisted relationship she has with her mother, ranging from moments of complete disgust to enthrallment. There's no denying her mother has a charm and wit about her that draws people in. It's just that no one knows what it's like to be forever caught in her web quite like Susanna does.
I admired Susanna's brash honesty, especially on the topics of her own life (sexual promiscuity, abortion) and felt she did a great job of depicting the way she longed to be free of her mother while at the same time wanted nothing more than to be a shining star upon her arm.
What a fantastic memoir. This is the kind of book that makes it sound like someone is narrating the story to me in my head, and it would have been a good one to listen to on audiobook. The sentences flowed well, and the language was captivating and interesting.
This seems like it would be right up my alley, but a lot of the book just didn't make any sense. As a teenager, and then an adult, why would you just accept your mother sleeping with all of your boyfriends? And not even get upset enough to confront her? Where the hell was the rest of your family when your mother was giving you cocaine? Why would you not live with your father, who seemed so much more normal? I don't buy a lot of this.
This book is riveting. I do hope that the author is exaggerating and that her childhood wasn't truly this bad. It does seem a little unreal, a little Jame Frey-ish maybe?
This book read like a novel and when you take a minute to remember that it's non-fiction, it's almost too crazy to believe.
an interesting book about a gal raised by her overly sexual drama mongering mother, and how she grew up initially following those same behaviors but eventually turned out normal.
I enjoyed this book. It was a quick read and I found it interesting. I can only imagine growing up with such a narcissistic mother!
Mrs. Sonnenberg should have written three books: one book about her relationship with her mother (and family), another about what a selfish person she was growing up, and a third about her work in an abortion clinic.
We read about all of the sordid details of her childhood and her relationship with her highly engaging mother, the reading of which reminded me of reality TV. And like reality TV I did not want to read, but I kept reading. The author lulls the reader into thinking she is the only sane one.
When the book is three quarters of the way complete she comes clean with the reader. You almost feel as a reader that she letting you in on the secret that she was not all that different from her mom and her sister. She admits to the reader that she skipped over some items: she is a nymphomaniac and a compulsive liar too. We learn she was as insane as the rest of the people in her life. She was selfish just like her mom. She only becomes a real respectable person when she moves to Missoula. (I read that part on the back of the book and that was why I picked it up.) She gets a real job working at a restaurant (think Finnegans in Kalispell) for minimum wage and cuts off contact with her mother.
I found the final part of the book to be the most moving. She wrote in this section about her work at an abortion clinic in Missoula. But again it seemed to belong in another book. She wrote clearly and explained her choices in life, even if I would not have made the same choices as she did. But without giving the story away, I was left with some questions about this section of the book too.
All three parts of her memoir are compelling. I read the book quickly, but at times I did not believe the author. For example, she states that even though she grew up in New York, went to boarding school in New England someplace (undisclosed), spent time in Connecticut, and had driven across the country with her mother to New Mexico, she did not know the location of Pennsylvania when she was in college. Really? I don’t buy it.
These small blips in the story, a story about lying at its core, make me question the truth in the other statements she makes. That said, the author also points out that she has a skewed memory of what happened. But I can’t help wondering if she is maybe bending the truth a bit here and there. Maybe, just maybe?
(One more thing: the photo on the cover of this book is so distracting...I don't feel like the woman's shoes fit her...they are way too big...and I can't figure out what the message is...why a picture only from the waist down?)
We read about all of the sordid details of her childhood and her relationship with her highly engaging mother, the reading of which reminded me of reality TV. And like reality TV I did not want to read, but I kept reading. The author lulls the reader into thinking she is the only sane one.
When the book is three quarters of the way complete she comes clean with the reader. You almost feel as a reader that she letting you in on the secret that she was not all that different from her mom and her sister. She admits to the reader that she skipped over some items: she is a nymphomaniac and a compulsive liar too. We learn she was as insane as the rest of the people in her life. She was selfish just like her mom. She only becomes a real respectable person when she moves to Missoula. (I read that part on the back of the book and that was why I picked it up.) She gets a real job working at a restaurant (think Finnegans in Kalispell) for minimum wage and cuts off contact with her mother.
I found the final part of the book to be the most moving. She wrote in this section about her work at an abortion clinic in Missoula. But again it seemed to belong in another book. She wrote clearly and explained her choices in life, even if I would not have made the same choices as she did. But without giving the story away, I was left with some questions about this section of the book too.
All three parts of her memoir are compelling. I read the book quickly, but at times I did not believe the author. For example, she states that even though she grew up in New York, went to boarding school in New England someplace (undisclosed), spent time in Connecticut, and had driven across the country with her mother to New Mexico, she did not know the location of Pennsylvania when she was in college. Really? I don’t buy it.
These small blips in the story, a story about lying at its core, make me question the truth in the other statements she makes. That said, the author also points out that she has a skewed memory of what happened. But I can’t help wondering if she is maybe bending the truth a bit here and there. Maybe, just maybe?
(One more thing: the photo on the cover of this book is so distracting...I don't feel like the woman's shoes fit her...they are way too big...and I can't figure out what the message is...why a picture only from the waist down?)