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literatehedgehog 's review for:
What I Was Doing While You Were Breeding: A Memoir
by Kristin Newman
One sentence summary: An entertaining, sometimes raunchy, arc of travel stories told by an intrepid single lady.
The Good
Unlike some travel memoirs or collections, these stories were connected well - as a narrative and as an emotional, existential journey. Themes, emotions, problems, characters cycled through in a way that was realistic, with enough backstory to understand what was happening but without being too much afternoon television drama.
I liked the idea of an "adjacent personality" - the "Kristin-Adjacent" of travel would do more daring, exciting things, (namely, attractive menfolk) than the regular Kristin of her LA, TV writer life. With that, there was a nice balance of her travel philosophy and opinions on how travel rejuvenated your mind and soul with descriptions of adventures and conquests.
Why I even read this genre - I would never travel as a female alone, and I enjoy vicariously reading stories of women who do. I can understand their reasons for doing so and how it makes them stronger, braver, more interesting - but I will simply never do it.
The Less Than Great
There are quite a few less than politically correct comments about gender, sexuality, appearance, relationships, politics, and religion in here. Even when I agreed with her viewpoint, I was uncomfortable with how she would phrase it. On the other hand, I felt the trip to Israel was described fairly diplomatically, with her and her friend visiting and conversing with people of varying perspectives.
I Wasn't Interested or Invested In
The relationship parts. A sexy "vacationship" escapade? Sure, tell me all about it! Except maybe some parts, I could have skipped one part in Brazil. Changing thoughts on marriage, friends' divorces, decisions on what to do about having babies as you get older, reflections on the writers' strike in the early 2000s? Those are all personal decisions and feelings that I can respect, but don't necessarily want to spend too much time reading about. Basically, this is truly a travel memoir - you get a fairly cohesive narrative arc and purpose to the collection of stories, with the trade-off (in my opinion) of deeply personal exposition.
Recommended to/for
Most obviously, girls' getaway vacation reading, or as inspiration and/or distraction when considering career or life changes
More adventurous, thrill-seeking (ahem) travel-readers than Eat, Pray, Love types
The Good
Unlike some travel memoirs or collections, these stories were connected well - as a narrative and as an emotional, existential journey. Themes, emotions, problems, characters cycled through in a way that was realistic, with enough backstory to understand what was happening but without being too much afternoon television drama.
I liked the idea of an "adjacent personality" - the "Kristin-Adjacent" of travel would do more daring, exciting things, (namely, attractive menfolk) than the regular Kristin of her LA, TV writer life. With that, there was a nice balance of her travel philosophy and opinions on how travel rejuvenated your mind and soul with descriptions of adventures and conquests.
Why I even read this genre - I would never travel as a female alone, and I enjoy vicariously reading stories of women who do. I can understand their reasons for doing so and how it makes them stronger, braver, more interesting - but I will simply never do it.
The Less Than Great
There are quite a few less than politically correct comments about gender, sexuality, appearance, relationships, politics, and religion in here. Even when I agreed with her viewpoint, I was uncomfortable with how she would phrase it. On the other hand, I felt the trip to Israel was described fairly diplomatically, with her and her friend visiting and conversing with people of varying perspectives.
I Wasn't Interested or Invested In
The relationship parts. A sexy "vacationship" escapade? Sure, tell me all about it! Except maybe some parts, I could have skipped one part in Brazil. Changing thoughts on marriage, friends' divorces, decisions on what to do about having babies as you get older, reflections on the writers' strike in the early 2000s? Those are all personal decisions and feelings that I can respect, but don't necessarily want to spend too much time reading about. Basically, this is truly a travel memoir - you get a fairly cohesive narrative arc and purpose to the collection of stories, with the trade-off (in my opinion) of deeply personal exposition.
Recommended to/for
Most obviously, girls' getaway vacation reading, or as inspiration and/or distraction when considering career or life changes
More adventurous, thrill-seeking (ahem) travel-readers than Eat, Pray, Love types