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A review by stabaquail
Kick Me: Adventures in Adolescence by Paul Feig
2.0
This book was okay? I have mixed feelings. There were parts that made laugh and cringe and I did relate to being an awkward disaster of a child/adolescent, though probably not on the same level as Paul. I even read some bits out loud to my boyfriend, mostly from the section where the boys were learning about periods, because it made me laugh so much.
However, I will agree with some of the other reviewers that, primarily in the second half of the book, there is a weird thread of mean-spiritedness that I didn't care for. Making a joke out of the kid with a developmental disability is something I might have been fine with when I was 12 but, come on man, you're an adult writing this in retrospect. You're supposed to know better NOW. His description of his date to prom is pretty rough. While I initially could understand the shock of overly sprayed hair and too much makeup, the analysis of how her body looked and the judgment of everything she did for the rest of the night was pretty mean. She seemed like a pretty nice person who got sick because she was a silly teenager who drank a beer, and all he can do in this chapter is complain that she had the audacity to eat food and have moles on her arms.
Paul also tries to make kind of traumatic things into funny little anecdotes and it doesn't always work. I totally get that, though. I always laugh and shake my head as I'm telling a story about a horrible thing that happened to me. I think we just both need more therapy, friend.
I was tempted to say 3 stars, but I can be TOO NICE sometimes. I need to bang my gavel of book critique once in a while.
However, I will agree with some of the other reviewers that, primarily in the second half of the book, there is a weird thread of mean-spiritedness that I didn't care for. Making a joke out of the kid with a developmental disability is something I might have been fine with when I was 12 but, come on man, you're an adult writing this in retrospect. You're supposed to know better NOW. His description of his date to prom is pretty rough. While I initially could understand the shock of overly sprayed hair and too much makeup, the analysis of how her body looked and the judgment of everything she did for the rest of the night was pretty mean. She seemed like a pretty nice person who got sick because she was a silly teenager who drank a beer, and all he can do in this chapter is complain that she had the audacity to eat food and have moles on her arms.
Paul also tries to make kind of traumatic things into funny little anecdotes and it doesn't always work. I totally get that, though. I always laugh and shake my head as I'm telling a story about a horrible thing that happened to me. I think we just both need more therapy, friend.
I was tempted to say 3 stars, but I can be TOO NICE sometimes. I need to bang my gavel of book critique once in a while.