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savaging's review
3.0
For most of the book Yuknavitch's voice has the smart-ass guffaw of a frat boy. It makes sense to me that as she works out her childhood suffering she is going to hurt others. But her wild-crazy life -- look, here I am driving and drinking again and almost killing a pregnant woman of color! -- feels like a humble-brag. Like she thinks it's cute and fun that she got into such trouble. And then I feel like a jerk or a prude because I'm reading this all with a tsk-tsk when look, my father was a perfectly nice guy, so what would I know?
Her magic trick is to write gutty sentences that make you feel something. But essay after essay of this begins to feel unreal. How each sexual experience is The Most, each drunken spree is The Most, each experience of rage is The Most. I like this book best when Yuknavitch trusts her skill enough to write something less than the most.
At some moments she moves past her bad-girl literary trope and sees herself or others with real wisdom and compassion, and it is so beautiful. That section on collecting rocks to deal with grief? That is the most accurate description of my own grief I have ever found. I'm grateful for those small moments -- quiet bits, ambiguous forgiveness -- amid this bar fight of a book.
jennifertijssen's review against another edition
3.0
Niet erg gripping of spannend voor lange stukken. Vertelling was geëmotioneerd, daardoor soms wat oncomfortabel om naar te luisteren. Niet-chronologische vertelling is mooi, maar soms lastig aan elkaar te knopen.
helenmeigs's review
5.0
noel_k's review
3.0
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Terminal illness, Ableism, Abortion, Addiction, Alcohol, Cancer, Car accident, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Sexual content, Alcoholism, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Domestic abuse, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Child death, Cursing, Sexual violence, Forced institutionalization, and Physical abuse
rhdj's review against another edition
2.0
Autrice che è molto orgogliosa della sua scrittura lirica e sperimentale; che però evidentemente ha adoperato in altri libri, a meno che il bel vocabolario di cui sopra e qualche paragrafo senza punteggiatura siano da considerarsi scrittura lirica e/o sperimentale.
È un memoir, dunque non vorrei giudicare troppo i contenuti, ma una cosa mi sento di dirla: Yuknavitch mi sembra il tipo di persona che mi auguro di non incontrare mai nella vita. Non per quello che racconta in sé, ma per la sua totale mancanza di empatia e il suo rifiuto di prendersi la responsabilità delle proprie azioni. Non so che idea di sé volesse dare scrivendo questo libro, ma quello che ne ho tratto io è una conferma del fatto che la sofferenza non ti rende automaticamente una persona profonda o buona, né una brava autrice.
Unica nota positiva è che la parte iniziale sulla figlia e i momenti in cui ricorda l’ultimo saluto alla madre sono commoventi seppur sempre, beninteso, senza alcun valore letterario. Ho letto trafiletti che mi hanno suscitato la medesima reazione emotiva.
Graphic: Child abuse, Abortion, Car accident, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Cancer, Death, Death of parent, Miscarriage, Racism, Suicide attempt, Drug use, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Incest, Grief, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Terminal illness, Cursing, and Drug abuse
jamekeith's review against another edition
carlomartinez__'s review
5.0
Graphic: Alcohol, Child death, Domestic abuse, Dementia, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Pregnancy, Pedophilia, Miscarriage, Addiction, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent, Suicide attempt, Incest, and Cancer
lee_loryn_'s review
5.0
abbyf29's review
5.0
Graphic: Car accident, Child abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, and Addiction