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3.99 AVERAGE
3.99 AVERAGE
I started reading Becoming Duchess Goldblatt at 4:48am, an obscene hour when the rest of Texas was properly sleeping. Three cups of tea and a few hours later I finished.
What a delightful and sometimes sadly familiar journey on a Crooked Path. Use it as a balm for your weary soul.
What a delightful and sometimes sadly familiar journey on a Crooked Path. Use it as a balm for your weary soul.
"Good night, rascals, dreamboats, and hermits. Good night, crackpots and nutjobs and scoundrels. Good night, all librarians everywhere."
Where to start in trying to review 'Becoming Duchess Goldblatt'? I didn't really know what to expect from this book. To emphasize the humor, and there is plenty of it, is to risk gliding over the dark heart of pain at the core of this unusual memoir. Anonymous, the author, started writing this character to deal with the pain that came from her divorce and sense of being abandoned by friends and family. The Duchess is NOT the same person as Anonymous, but an alternate consciousness, living in Crooked Path, NY, ten minutes north of NYC, and ten minutes from the Canadian border. Before she knows it, the character she has created has developed a following on Twitter. Her tweets, one part gentle tenderness and two parts twisted humor, call out the need for community in our fractured society. The author makes a commitment to deal gently with those who follow her. I think what touched me most is how eager people are for kindness, tenderness, and connection.
I am not on Twitter so I was not aware of the Duchess's presence. Her wit and advice are almost enough to tempt me to tiptoe onto Twitter. Highly recommended.
Where to start in trying to review 'Becoming Duchess Goldblatt'? I didn't really know what to expect from this book. To emphasize the humor, and there is plenty of it, is to risk gliding over the dark heart of pain at the core of this unusual memoir. Anonymous, the author, started writing this character to deal with the pain that came from her divorce and sense of being abandoned by friends and family. The Duchess is NOT the same person as Anonymous, but an alternate consciousness, living in Crooked Path, NY, ten minutes north of NYC, and ten minutes from the Canadian border. Before she knows it, the character she has created has developed a following on Twitter. Her tweets, one part gentle tenderness and two parts twisted humor, call out the need for community in our fractured society. The author makes a commitment to deal gently with those who follow her. I think what touched me most is how eager people are for kindness, tenderness, and connection.
I am not on Twitter so I was not aware of the Duchess's presence. Her wit and advice are almost enough to tempt me to tiptoe onto Twitter. Highly recommended.
I chose this book because it was listed as written by an anonymous writer. Then when it came up on GoodReads, the author was given as Duchess Goldblatt who is fictitious. It was quite interesting, but I was a little put off by the profanity in it. An anonymous memoir . . . hmmmmmm.
funny
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
This was...confusing.
I had not heard of Duchess Goldblatt before, and was drawn in by the cover and my own whimsical procrastinating wanderings on my library's website. I wasn't quite sure what to expect, and I still didn't about 2/3rds of the way in. I slowly began catching on during the last third (it was short enough that I just powered through), but I think folks who know this character and have followed her would get more out of it. It's a book about grief and community and finding your way after life has beat you down, but it was written in an incredibly vague and odd way that it was only until after I finished that I realized that was the point.
I had not heard of Duchess Goldblatt before, and was drawn in by the cover and my own whimsical procrastinating wanderings on my library's website. I wasn't quite sure what to expect, and I still didn't about 2/3rds of the way in. I slowly began catching on during the last third (it was short enough that I just powered through), but I think folks who know this character and have followed her would get more out of it. It's a book about grief and community and finding your way after life has beat you down, but it was written in an incredibly vague and odd way that it was only until after I finished that I realized that was the point.
funny
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
Utterly delightful and touching. Just what I needed without even knowing it.
I have mixed feelings about this one.
Pros:
- The humor was actually humorous. DG's tweets are often witty and funny.
- The audiobook narration was so enjoyable! I love that Lyle Lovett was willing to voice himself.
- The book is about a fictional character on Twitter who inadvertently creates a community of people who interact with her during a challenging period in her life. And then the author of this book decided to remain anonymous. There's something brilliant about that.
- It's a short book, so the story moves at a brisk pace.
Cons:
- Some of the backstory wasn't interesting to me.
- The "real" people in the author's life are undeveloped as characters.
Pros:
- The humor was actually humorous. DG's tweets are often witty and funny.
- The audiobook narration was so enjoyable! I love that Lyle Lovett was willing to voice himself.
- The book is about a fictional character on Twitter who inadvertently creates a community of people who interact with her during a challenging period in her life. And then the author of this book decided to remain anonymous. There's something brilliant about that.
- It's a short book, so the story moves at a brisk pace.
Cons:
- Some of the backstory wasn't interesting to me.
- The "real" people in the author's life are undeveloped as characters.
I love Twitter way too much, but this might be the first time I've read a memoir by an author largely famous for a pseudonymous Twitter account.
I kept seeing Duchess Goldblatt's gentle, humorous interactions with Benjamin Dreyer's tweets and fell for her gentle, humorous charms. 'Becoming Duchess Goldblatt' explains how the title character came to the author, who chooses to publish under her pen name, and lifted her out of a sad time in her prompted by the surprise divorce request from her husband. During a period of self-examination, the author became a character much different than her real persona--someone who spoke and made friends easily whereas DG's creator struggled making connections and lost some of her dearest friends in the aftermath of a painful divorce.
I love the Duchess's breezy style and it was intriguing to learn how the author channeled her own struggles into a much beloved character who in turn lifted her creator.
I kept seeing Duchess Goldblatt's gentle, humorous interactions with Benjamin Dreyer's tweets and fell for her gentle, humorous charms. 'Becoming Duchess Goldblatt' explains how the title character came to the author, who chooses to publish under her pen name, and lifted her out of a sad time in her prompted by the surprise divorce request from her husband. During a period of self-examination, the author became a character much different than her real persona--someone who spoke and made friends easily whereas DG's creator struggled making connections and lost some of her dearest friends in the aftermath of a painful divorce.
I love the Duchess's breezy style and it was intriguing to learn how the author channeled her own struggles into a much beloved character who in turn lifted her creator.