A review by yourfriendtorie
The Chelsea Whistle by Michelle Tea

3.0

I have to say, I don't count myself among fans of Michelle Tea's writing in general. I think I have read all of her novels, and while I didn't dislike them, they didn't shake me the way I was somehow expecting. The Chelsea Whistle is also a memoir that reads like a fucked-up YA novel, but this one affected me a little more. Familial dysfunction and a working-class upbringing form the backdrop against which Tea's coming-of-age develops in sad, painful vignettes that seemed all too familiar to me, and perhaps many other angsty, self-aware, subculture-obsessed teen girls. Anyway, a harsh read, to be sure, but I read it avidly.