A review by watson_my_shelf
The Family Outing by Jessi Hempel

 

Over a couple of decades, 4 out of 5 of Jessi’s family members came out as queer: a gay father, a bisexual sister, a transgender brother, and her as a lesbian. On top of that, her mother reveals she had a traumatic experience with an alleged serial killer as a teenager. Growing up, Jessi’s family was the seemingly perfect white picket fence family. But Jessi and her mother were constantly at odds, her dad was frequently traveling for work, and there was a lot of tension in their household. 

This memoir was interesting in that it was mostly a history of Hempel’s family. We get to see how relationships evolved, how her various family members came out, and how the family healed emotionally throughout the years. While interesting, the storytelling sort of falls flat, where it seemed like the author was grasping for a theme or revelation, but did not quite get there. I wish there had been a little more depth to some of the writing. Hempel also randomly talks about her time in an MLM/cult situation, which her sister was a part of. It took away from the other parts of the story, in my opinion. 

This book is a look at the cisheteronormativity of our society and we get to see how each of Hempel’s family members learned to navigate that. The author is very vulnerable in sharing her and her family’s stories. There is a lot of hope. While I am not sure I’d necessarily recommend reading it, Hempel has had an interesting life and shares a lot of queer joy (alongside the struggles) in this book.