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ashleyling's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
3.5
anakelly21's review against another edition
5.0
Genuinely the most beautiful book I've ever read. Lockwood tells laugh-out-loud stories of youth and religion with such generosity that this memoir almost reads as fiction. It is a candid portrait of growing up in both alignment and disconnect with your family, holding hands with your hometown while running towards your next apartment. I firmly believe every poet should be required to write a memoir now.
Here is casually the most beautiful paragraph:
"The natural order is a powerful narcotic. I don't mean this in the sense of any opiate of the masses. If you sneer at religion as the opiate of the masses, you must sneer also at the brain, because the receptors are there. You must sneer at the body, which knows how to feel that bliss. What I mean is, a sweet look of lying down in poppy fields, of feeling control finally by giving over control, a look of wild and then tame relinquishment. In the mirror, I examined my face for signs of my mother and saw something else." (245)
Here is casually the most beautiful paragraph:
"The natural order is a powerful narcotic. I don't mean this in the sense of any opiate of the masses. If you sneer at religion as the opiate of the masses, you must sneer also at the brain, because the receptors are there. You must sneer at the body, which knows how to feel that bliss. What I mean is, a sweet look of lying down in poppy fields, of feeling control finally by giving over control, a look of wild and then tame relinquishment. In the mirror, I examined my face for signs of my mother and saw something else." (245)
shirlev's review against another edition
A catastrophe has brought them all here, the catastrophe of being called. I think of that Buster Keaton stunt where the wall collapses and he finds himself standing in the open window of the upper room, not merely unharmed but chosen. After that, you must live the rest of your life differently, carrying that open window around with you always, amid the whoosh of everything else in the world falling.
This book frequently made me queasy with recognition and misidentification-- I see myself, I see my father, I see something in the shape of myself or my father that is unrecognizable. "Voice" was an especially affecting chapter. Lockwood's precision with language and especially humor is what shines through in a memoir that often hit a little too close.
This book frequently made me queasy with recognition and misidentification-- I see myself, I see my father, I see something in the shape of myself or my father that is unrecognizable. "Voice" was an especially affecting chapter. Lockwood's precision with language and especially humor is what shines through in a memoir that often hit a little too close.
tabithare's review against another edition
3.0
loved the concept and the humor, could have been 100 pages shorter :)
helenmeigs's review against another edition
5.0
LOVED. Made me laugh out loud and also moments of deep sincerity. Made Hannah say “it’s like you’re giving yourself religious trauma”.
carrington's review against another edition
As a reader, there are two things I don’t typically read: poems and memoirs. This happens to be a memoir written by a poet, so I was predisposed to dislike it. However! As much as it was not necessarily for me, I’m glad I dipped a toe into a world I otherwise might not have seen. Her family dynamics are unique and fascinating, yet universal. They’re really just your suburban Catholic family on steroids.
This book is RIPE for a sitcom adaptation. It has cross divide appeal for both liberals and conservatives (as it’s a household with two ideological factions). It has such clear parameters: five people in a house — Patricia, her husband, her mother, her father the priest, and then the seminarian. Endless opportunities for comedy. Someone should write this.
And credit where credit is due, there were certainly a couple moments that actually made me LOL. The Republican cruise? Watching the Exorcist and her dad accidentally cranking the volume for just the line about “eating cocks” while he was trying to mute it? I laughed!
This book is RIPE for a sitcom adaptation. It has cross divide appeal for both liberals and conservatives (as it’s a household with two ideological factions). It has such clear parameters: five people in a house — Patricia, her husband, her mother, her father the priest, and then the seminarian. Endless opportunities for comedy. Someone should write this.
And credit where credit is due, there were certainly a couple moments that actually made me LOL. The Republican cruise? Watching the Exorcist and her dad accidentally cranking the volume for just the line about “eating cocks” while he was trying to mute it? I laughed!
carmenx9's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
Funny, smart, silly, and deeply sad. "Voice" might be one of the top five chapters in memoirs, if not all books.
hannahlee's review against another edition
3.5
This was such an odd book. It made me feel all kinds of ways - there were times when I really enjoyed the writing style, and others when I found it over-the-top. There were times when I was charmed by the wackiness of the story, and others when I was deeply saddened. Overall I think it achieved its goals and it definitely elicited a response in me, but I'm not sure I can precisely say I liked it.