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3.99 AVERAGE
3.99 AVERAGE
Absolutely charming. Exactly what I needed during this season of life.
Libby Kindle. I’m not on Twitter, so I didn’t know anything about this cultural phenomenon but she is so creative and hilarious.
“Tonight in Crooked Path, we’ll all visit our dear ones’ graves and lay wreaths made of apostrophes: the symbol of something missing.”
“Tonight in Crooked Path, we’ll all visit our dear ones’ graves and lay wreaths made of apostrophes: the symbol of something missing.”
A Duchess Goldblatt bibliography:
"Feasting On The Carcasses Of My Enemies: A Love Story"
The Memoir: "An Axe To Grind".
"Not If I Kill You First: a heartwarming meditation on mothers and daughters."
A young mother is abandoned by her husband, family, and friends. She falls into a deep depression. She idly creates Duchess Goldblatt on social media, a character who over the years helps her deal with her depression.
During the book she recounts her difficult childhood:
- her mother takes a bunch of pills to try to abort her
- her brother is a deeply mentally ill manipulative drug addict
- her "kindly" father has no problem dumping all the care of the family on her young shoulders
- No-one gave a damn about her when she was a kid
- She was abandoned over and over again throughout her life
- The things her "friends" said to her were so cruel it made my jaw drop.
- Her husband dumps her for another woman
- Her friends abandon her
and that just scratches the surface.
"You will bear it. You have to. You will."
It is a testimony to me of just how lovely this woman is, that despite all that she endured, the character she creates online is endlessly kind and uplifting.
"The only way to be reliably sure that the hero gets the girl at the end of the story is to be both the hero and the girl yourself."
I was happily reading along, enjoying this work of fiction, when about 15 minutes before the end of the book when Dryer's English was mentioned I suddenly realized that it might not be fiction after all, and that blew my mind. That poor, poor little girl.
I was so very glad at the end when her aunt acknowledged the awful things that happened to the author. It was very cathartic to hear. I was so glad she acknowledged the Dad was not a saint. He was, in fact, an enabling martyr who was selfishly trying to shove his daughter into that same role.
While this book has a difficult subject, it's actually not a depressing book. A few times it was so funny I laughed out loud with delight.
I read (listened to the audiobook) this book in one day. It was absolutely brilliant, delightful, and I loved it. Very highly recommended.
It's difficult to highlight quotes when one is listening to an audiobook, so I had to transcribe my favourites.
If people can't find you they can't break your heart.
After a certain point people lose patience with your grief. They just wand you to move on.
That's so true. I watched that happen in real time to my Mum after my Dad died. It was so painful for her. It was after a very short period of time. Just days, not even weeks.
The saddest people will always be allowed to go home first."
This one's not true.
Freud: all family life is organized around the most damaged person in it."
OOF!! That makes me think about the various "family" units I've been in. And holy moly that holds true.
No, frankly, I don't agree that I'm setting an impossible beauty standard. You could go put on a nicer ruff and ensaucen your sly gaze.
HA!
My father used to try to tell me to never say anything about anyone that I wouldn't want them to overhear. "It will make you boring in conversation sometimes," he said. "Maybe you know something private about someone that's embarrassing and you could say it at a party, make everybody laugh. You'll have to hold yourself back from doing it. Give up the fun of getting that laughter for yourself. But if you believe that you're called to never cause pain to another human being, it won't be a hard choice.
Any a**hole can make a mean joke. It's harder work to reach out further for the joke that's funny and can't hurt anybody.
I came to realize over time that a dig made at a famous person for ordinary human failings no matter how far removed they are from the conversation carries with it an implied criticism of the reader. To make fun of anyone diminishes my reader. It diminishes me.
The better joke is always going to be the one that doesn't hurt anybody.
If this is the result of my own sorrow - an enlarged capacity, the ability to contain heartbreak not my own, if this was the deal, then it's acceptable to me.
I'm sure that if you meet me you will leave me.
OUCH.
If you've ever wondered the right thing to say to someone who is grieving a death, I think this is it: "Tell me all about your dear one."
"Feasting On The Carcasses Of My Enemies: A Love Story"
The Memoir: "An Axe To Grind".
"Not If I Kill You First: a heartwarming meditation on mothers and daughters."
A young mother is abandoned by her husband, family, and friends. She falls into a deep depression. She idly creates Duchess Goldblatt on social media, a character who over the years helps her deal with her depression.
During the book she recounts her difficult childhood:
- her mother takes a bunch of pills to try to abort her
- her brother is a deeply mentally ill manipulative drug addict
- her "kindly" father has no problem dumping all the care of the family on her young shoulders
- No-one gave a damn about her when she was a kid
- She was abandoned over and over again throughout her life
- The things her "friends" said to her were so cruel it made my jaw drop.
- Her husband dumps her for another woman
- Her friends abandon her
and that just scratches the surface.
"You will bear it. You have to. You will."
It is a testimony to me of just how lovely this woman is, that despite all that she endured, the character she creates online is endlessly kind and uplifting.
"The only way to be reliably sure that the hero gets the girl at the end of the story is to be both the hero and the girl yourself."
I was happily reading along, enjoying this work of fiction, when about 15 minutes before the end of the book when Dryer's English was mentioned I suddenly realized that it might not be fiction after all, and that blew my mind. That poor, poor little girl.
I was so very glad at the end when her aunt acknowledged the awful things that happened to the author. It was very cathartic to hear. I was so glad she acknowledged the Dad was not a saint. He was, in fact, an enabling martyr who was selfishly trying to shove his daughter into that same role.
While this book has a difficult subject, it's actually not a depressing book. A few times it was so funny I laughed out loud with delight.
I read (listened to the audiobook) this book in one day. It was absolutely brilliant, delightful, and I loved it. Very highly recommended.
It's difficult to highlight quotes when one is listening to an audiobook, so I had to transcribe my favourites.
If people can't find you they can't break your heart.
After a certain point people lose patience with your grief. They just wand you to move on.
That's so true. I watched that happen in real time to my Mum after my Dad died. It was so painful for her. It was after a very short period of time. Just days, not even weeks.
The saddest people will always be allowed to go home first."
This one's not true.
Freud: all family life is organized around the most damaged person in it."
OOF!! That makes me think about the various "family" units I've been in. And holy moly that holds true.
No, frankly, I don't agree that I'm setting an impossible beauty standard. You could go put on a nicer ruff and ensaucen your sly gaze.
HA!
My father used to try to tell me to never say anything about anyone that I wouldn't want them to overhear. "It will make you boring in conversation sometimes," he said. "Maybe you know something private about someone that's embarrassing and you could say it at a party, make everybody laugh. You'll have to hold yourself back from doing it. Give up the fun of getting that laughter for yourself. But if you believe that you're called to never cause pain to another human being, it won't be a hard choice.
Any a**hole can make a mean joke. It's harder work to reach out further for the joke that's funny and can't hurt anybody.
I came to realize over time that a dig made at a famous person for ordinary human failings no matter how far removed they are from the conversation carries with it an implied criticism of the reader. To make fun of anyone diminishes my reader. It diminishes me.
The better joke is always going to be the one that doesn't hurt anybody.
If this is the result of my own sorrow - an enlarged capacity, the ability to contain heartbreak not my own, if this was the deal, then it's acceptable to me.
I'm sure that if you meet me you will leave me.
OUCH.
If you've ever wondered the right thing to say to someone who is grieving a death, I think this is it: "Tell me all about your dear one."
One of the highlights in an otherwise mediocre career in radio was being introduced to the music of Lyle Lovett's "Pontiac" CD, and my favorite song of his, "If I Had a Boat." A year later, I picked up John Irving's "A Prayer for Owen Meany," which put me on the path to become a high school English teacher.
What does this have to do with "Becoming Duchess Goldblatt"? Everything. Following Lyle Lovett on Twitter led me to Duchess Goldblatt's surreal, sublime wisdom. Reading "Becoming Duchess Goldblatt" references John Irving and Owen Meany. See? It all makes sense.
If you're not familiar with her grace on Twitter, take care of that right now. (Same with Lyle Lovett.) Duchess Goldblatt is the 81-year old resident of Crooked Path, NY, a fictional character in a fictional setting, but one who has more humanity, compassion, wit, and wisdom than most real people. Her story is just a part of this beautiful memoir; the bulk of it is the story of the still-anonymous creator of Duchess Goldblatt. And what a story it is.
Following Lyle Lovett led to following Duchess Goldblatt, which led to following a host of her admirers - Benjamin Dreyer, Connie Schultz, Rosanne Cash, to name a few - who all give this tired, cranky, jaded human reason to believe there is goodness in the world.
Buy the book. No, buy two, and give one to someone you love.
What does this have to do with "Becoming Duchess Goldblatt"? Everything. Following Lyle Lovett on Twitter led me to Duchess Goldblatt's surreal, sublime wisdom. Reading "Becoming Duchess Goldblatt" references John Irving and Owen Meany. See? It all makes sense.
If you're not familiar with her grace on Twitter, take care of that right now. (Same with Lyle Lovett.) Duchess Goldblatt is the 81-year old resident of Crooked Path, NY, a fictional character in a fictional setting, but one who has more humanity, compassion, wit, and wisdom than most real people. Her story is just a part of this beautiful memoir; the bulk of it is the story of the still-anonymous creator of Duchess Goldblatt. And what a story it is.
Following Lyle Lovett led to following Duchess Goldblatt, which led to following a host of her admirers - Benjamin Dreyer, Connie Schultz, Rosanne Cash, to name a few - who all give this tired, cranky, jaded human reason to believe there is goodness in the world.
Buy the book. No, buy two, and give one to someone you love.
This is by far the best book I’ve read all year. (kindly ignore how this is also the first book I’ve read this year.) This book is the sauve for wounds that I didn’t realize I had. I may have to re-read this one many times over for the sheer joy in the wordsmithing and the messages they carry. I borrowed it from the library as an ebook, but I love it so much I’ll be buying a physical copy of it. I will cherish it and be reminded of such a delightful world of wit and love arising out of superhuman heartbreak.
I was not at all familiar with this fictional Twitter account, but still immensely enjoyed the story of its creation, its wisdom, and the following its author amassed (in spite of her train wreck of all life at the time).
funny
reflective
fast-paced
This one was interesting. I knew absolutely nothing going in, and found the reflections on life, motherhood, and the creative process to be quite satisfying.
I love the Twitter feed, but the book wasn't for me.