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3.99 AVERAGE
3.99 AVERAGE
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
Amazing audiobook. Heartwarming, sad, and funny account of a woman’s personal growth as she builds a fictional social media woman who teaches others how to be kind to everyone, including themselves.
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
emotional
funny
reflective
fast-paced
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
A publisher told me I was approved for a book but also said I needed to be on specific social media accounts. Including Twitter. So, I created an account and followed publishers and authors I had read or was reading and other bookish folk. Those authors referred to other Twitter accounts which I then followed. An author shared something by Benjamin Dryer, and I followed him and bought his delightful and informative book Dreyer’s English and read it. Another author mentioned Elizabeth McCracken and I followed her and bought her novel delightful comic Bowlaway and read it (and every book she has published since.) And it was likely from them that I discovered Duchess Goldbatt, for they were early Duchess fans.
No one knew who was writing the Duchess’s posts. They were funny and sharp. They were compassionate and inspiring.
When the Duchess wrote her memoir Becoming Duchess Goldblatt I bought it and it has been on my ebook TBR shelf for a long time. I promised myself I would to ‘free reading’ between now and the end of the year, and then put my nose to the grindstone again tacking the review books waiting for me. I opened Duchess to check her out, and ended up reading the memoir in a day.
Fictional people can now give blood. Of course, we have always given our blood; we have always poured out every bit of ourselves to you.
from Becoming Duchess Goldblatt
The author tells the story of the end of her marriage, suddenly and cruelly, separating her from her family by marriage and from her preschool son, costing her financial security and the new house they had just moved into. Even her friends seemed to offer no comfort. Her job was being phased out. The shock of it all closed her down and she was detached from everything but her pain.
The author needed something to distract her. She opened a social media account for her fictional alter ego, Duchess Goldblatt. Strangers befriended her. It was pretty surprising to her. But she closed the account. Later, the Duchess resurrected on Twitter. People responded to the clever writing, especially writers. The Duchess became well known.
Her made up world is hilarious. Crooked Path, NY is ten minutes north of Manhattan and ten minutes south of the Canadian border, and shares a border with Kansas–and has its own navy! It “was founded by a sect of anti-cartography zealots:” I loved that it had “a day spa specializing in the therapeutic laying on of obese dachshunds.”
They’re razing Crooked Path’s Mobius strip mall today. Delicate job. The place has no exits. We haven’t been sure who’s inside. Or outside.
from Becoming Duchess Goldblatt
The author’s friends didn’t get the Duchess or her purpose. Why be nice to strangers?
Where is the line between the author and the character? The Duchess was friends with people, but the author wasn’t friends with them because they didn’t know the real author. And she preferred to keep that distance. It appeared that people needed the Duchess. The Duchess brought strangers together into a community. The Duchess gave kindness to those who needed it.
One fan was Lyle Lovett, and the author had been his fan forever. He understood what she was doing and the importance of her work. He invited the author to concerts. He was one of the few who knew the real person behind the Duchess.
Throughout the book, tidbits from the Duchess are shared, and I loved and laughed at so many of her thoughts. She is the perfect foil to the trauma of the author’s story of loss and the backstory of her childhood and dysfunctional family.
Grief and loss can be dealt with in many ways, from the vengeful to the self-destruction. The creativity of the author in inventing the Duchess and finding a way to connect to others and form a community is uplifting and inspiring.
No one knew who was writing the Duchess’s posts. They were funny and sharp. They were compassionate and inspiring.
When the Duchess wrote her memoir Becoming Duchess Goldblatt I bought it and it has been on my ebook TBR shelf for a long time. I promised myself I would to ‘free reading’ between now and the end of the year, and then put my nose to the grindstone again tacking the review books waiting for me. I opened Duchess to check her out, and ended up reading the memoir in a day.
Fictional people can now give blood. Of course, we have always given our blood; we have always poured out every bit of ourselves to you.
from Becoming Duchess Goldblatt
The author tells the story of the end of her marriage, suddenly and cruelly, separating her from her family by marriage and from her preschool son, costing her financial security and the new house they had just moved into. Even her friends seemed to offer no comfort. Her job was being phased out. The shock of it all closed her down and she was detached from everything but her pain.
The author needed something to distract her. She opened a social media account for her fictional alter ego, Duchess Goldblatt. Strangers befriended her. It was pretty surprising to her. But she closed the account. Later, the Duchess resurrected on Twitter. People responded to the clever writing, especially writers. The Duchess became well known.
Her made up world is hilarious. Crooked Path, NY is ten minutes north of Manhattan and ten minutes south of the Canadian border, and shares a border with Kansas–and has its own navy! It “was founded by a sect of anti-cartography zealots:” I loved that it had “a day spa specializing in the therapeutic laying on of obese dachshunds.”
They’re razing Crooked Path’s Mobius strip mall today. Delicate job. The place has no exits. We haven’t been sure who’s inside. Or outside.
from Becoming Duchess Goldblatt
The author’s friends didn’t get the Duchess or her purpose. Why be nice to strangers?
Where is the line between the author and the character? The Duchess was friends with people, but the author wasn’t friends with them because they didn’t know the real author. And she preferred to keep that distance. It appeared that people needed the Duchess. The Duchess brought strangers together into a community. The Duchess gave kindness to those who needed it.
One fan was Lyle Lovett, and the author had been his fan forever. He understood what she was doing and the importance of her work. He invited the author to concerts. He was one of the few who knew the real person behind the Duchess.
Throughout the book, tidbits from the Duchess are shared, and I loved and laughed at so many of her thoughts. She is the perfect foil to the trauma of the author’s story of loss and the backstory of her childhood and dysfunctional family.
Grief and loss can be dealt with in many ways, from the vengeful to the self-destruction. The creativity of the author in inventing the Duchess and finding a way to connect to others and form a community is uplifting and inspiring.
I hadn't heard of Duchess Goldblatt, social media persona, before seeing this book. I was intrigued by it being written by Anonymous. "I bet I can figure out who Anonymous is," I thought. "I have Columbo-level Internet sleuthing skills." I opened the digital copy to find these words at the very beginning:
"This is a work of nonfiction.
"Some names and identifying details have been changed.
"Quit hounding me, children.
"You don’t need to know everything."
Touche. Maybe I won't unmask Anonymous. But it was a quick, often poignant read. I wasn't expecting to relate to her so much, professionally or personally. But that's the magic of both books and the internet, that we discover how much we have in common with other humans.
Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to review a digital ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.
"This is a work of nonfiction.
"Some names and identifying details have been changed.
"Quit hounding me, children.
"You don’t need to know everything."
Touche. Maybe I won't unmask Anonymous. But it was a quick, often poignant read. I wasn't expecting to relate to her so much, professionally or personally. But that's the magic of both books and the internet, that we discover how much we have in common with other humans.
Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to review a digital ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.
Becoming Duchess Goldblatt is a beautiful little book about identity, the nature of relationships, finding your voice, finding your tribe, and meeting Lyle Lovett. The audiobook is uniquely quaint with a sweet-voiced narrator reading DG's tweets and Lyle himself reading his parts. Like the author, I have loved Lyle's music since the 1980s and have seen him perform live several times. This book reveals what I've known all along: Lyle is a smart, funny, and all-around decent human being. The way he connects with and encourages the author is inspiring and gives me hope for the world.
Such a tender and moving book. I await your next one, Your Grace.
funny
lighthearted
slow-paced