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3.97 AVERAGE
3.97 AVERAGE
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
lighthearted
slow-paced
A mixed bag for me... moments where I genuinely laughed out loud, more than a few "you got me with that one" begrudging chuckles, and places where the scenes were so tediously over-the-top that I worried it may never end.
The things that make Jenny Lawson's blog (she's The Bloggess) so great are here, but maybe it's that they're all here all at once in book form that just didn't do it for me.
The things that make Jenny Lawson's blog (she's The Bloggess) so great are here, but maybe it's that they're all here all at once in book form that just didn't do it for me.
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
There were some funny bits, but I didn’t love the overall delivery.
funny
lighthearted
I only picked this book up because my therapist mentioned it in passing. I wasn't familiar with Jenny Lawson or her blog, so in a lot of ways, I really wasn't the audience for this. After reading, I still don't think I'm the audience, so this book is a 2 star one for me.
Part of what made this book a struggle for me was the humor. In addition to coming across as quirky/weird, it relies heavily on loudness/shouting, irreverence, and rambling. Vagina jokes seemed to occur in just about every chapter, which grew tedious. If you're a fan of Lawson's brand of humor, I can see this book working for you. For me, the humor wasn't especially entertaining or clever - just random.
Another thing I struggled with what the lack of reflection and vulnerability. Lawson includes so many rambling stories that they drown out the best moments in this book - moments such as "homesickness" for her childhood, feelings of being a failure after a number of miscarriages, and undoing internalized sexism while finding new female friends. Those moments get maybe a page each, and most stories don't really have any reflection attached to them other than pithy lessons like embracing yourself and picking your battles. It's a shame because Lawson tells stories about chronic illness and motherhood and a bunch of other things that could connect with readers. But she doesn't do the work of connecting the humor to survival.
TL;DR: Let's Pretend This Never Happened is a rambling and irreverent memoir that really only has things to offer to readers who like Lawson's sense of humor. Personally, I didn't find it insightful or clever, so this book was a drag for me.
Part of what made this book a struggle for me was the humor. In addition to coming across as quirky/weird, it relies heavily on loudness/shouting, irreverence, and rambling. Vagina jokes seemed to occur in just about every chapter, which grew tedious. If you're a fan of Lawson's brand of humor, I can see this book working for you. For me, the humor wasn't especially entertaining or clever - just random.
Another thing I struggled with what the lack of reflection and vulnerability. Lawson includes so many rambling stories that they drown out the best moments in this book - moments such as "homesickness" for her childhood, feelings of being a failure after a number of miscarriages, and undoing internalized sexism while finding new female friends. Those moments get maybe a page each, and most stories don't really have any reflection attached to them other than pithy lessons like embracing yourself and picking your battles. It's a shame because Lawson tells stories about chronic illness and motherhood and a bunch of other things that could connect with readers. But she doesn't do the work of connecting the humor to survival.
TL;DR: Let's Pretend This Never Happened is a rambling and irreverent memoir that really only has things to offer to readers who like Lawson's sense of humor. Personally, I didn't find it insightful or clever, so this book was a drag for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Drug use, Miscarriage
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Blood
Minor: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Eating disorder, Gore, Racism, Excrement, Vomit, Antisemitism, Medical content, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Minor: Animal death
This book is outrageously funny. I couldn't stop myself from laughing out loud. Jenny Lawson describes the experiences of growing up in a poor community in Wall, Texas, where her father was a taxidermist and her mother was a school lunch lady. Her childhood memories include accidentally running inside of a partially cleaned deer (then proceeding to vomit inside of said deer) while chasing her sister, welcoming a myriad of inappropriate pets into the home including squirrels, raccoons, and baby bobcats, and the embarrassment of getting her arm stuck inside a cow's vagina in agricultural class. She asks herself, how do you ever become a normal third grader after "the great turkey shit-off of 1983?" One of her later memories involves using the head of a Betsy Wetsy doll as a bong.
Jenny describes the challenges of growing up, finding friends in adulthood, and maintaining sanity while working in HR for 15 plus years. Jenny wisely observes, "Girlfriends are like small bears: cute to look at, but much too dangerous to have lunch with." She has endless hilarious and embarrassing stories of ridiculously inappropriate conversations at dinner parties with her husband, and also reflects on the struggles (and laughter) of family planning, pregnancy, and parenting.
In some ways, this can be read as a self-help book. The reader learns: 1) What to do when there is a baby mountain lion in your lap, 2) How to make homemade mace for your dinner guests, and 3) Topics not to venture into during a cocktail party, among other important life lessons. Jenny's overall theme, however, is to find joy in embracing the absurd moments in life and the insane memories that we create, because these moments (and our reactions to them) will define us.
"Some days are good, some days are bad, and some days are the days when you get a dead dog in the mail."
I can't wait to read Jenny's newest book, and I look forward to following her blog!
Jenny describes the challenges of growing up, finding friends in adulthood, and maintaining sanity while working in HR for 15 plus years. Jenny wisely observes, "Girlfriends are like small bears: cute to look at, but much too dangerous to have lunch with." She has endless hilarious and embarrassing stories of ridiculously inappropriate conversations at dinner parties with her husband, and also reflects on the struggles (and laughter) of family planning, pregnancy, and parenting.
In some ways, this can be read as a self-help book. The reader learns: 1) What to do when there is a baby mountain lion in your lap, 2) How to make homemade mace for your dinner guests, and 3) Topics not to venture into during a cocktail party, among other important life lessons. Jenny's overall theme, however, is to find joy in embracing the absurd moments in life and the insane memories that we create, because these moments (and our reactions to them) will define us.
"Some days are good, some days are bad, and some days are the days when you get a dead dog in the mail."
I can't wait to read Jenny's newest book, and I look forward to following her blog!
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced