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A review by emilyjoy828
Fast Girl: A Life Spent Running from Madness by Suzy Favor Hamilton
2.0
While I found this book to be entertaining and am fully supportive of bringing awareness to mental illness and it’s various manifestations, I had several problems it, and it overall left a bad taste in my mouth.
1. Suzy was an Olympic runner who, in a time of undiagnosed bipolar mania, decided to become a high-end Vegas escort. However, in this book, she provided so much detail about her time as an escort, it was sometimes verging on pornographic. She kept describing how happy it made her, how alive it made her feel. The amount of details she shared seemed less like a sober confession and more like a revelry of her “glory days.” It made me realize she still has some recovering to do.
2. She really doesn’t seem that apologetic for anything that she did. Yes, she has a mental illness, which is partially to blame. I truly don’t think she would’ve become an escort had she not been struggling with bipolar disorder, and I love the message of not allowing shame in because shame is powerless to change you, but some more acknowledgement of the hurt she caused would’ve shown that she understands the weight of her actions. I don’t know that she does.
3. So much time is spent on her mania, and it is only the last chapter wherein she finally discusses how she got help, and that is just a few sentences. I wanted to know more about what recovery looked like for her, how she picked up the shattered remains of her life and pieced them back together. Instead, all I know is a list of names of men she had sex with and all the expensive gifts they bought her.
4. She openly condones the sex trade and marital infidelity. I’ve done way too much research on sex trafficking to feel comfortable with her statement that exchanging money for sex is empowering and perfectly acceptable. I also kept thinking about all the poor wives of the men she was sleeping with, and I cannot fathom why her loving husband gave her his permission to pursue this lifestyle. I wish we had gotten more of his perspective to help me understand what kind of place he was in mentally during all of this.
Overall, I still feel worried about Suzy. I want to believe that she is seeking the help she needs and won’t go back to her old life, but I’m not sure she herself even knows if that’s true. I’m still proud of her for speaking out about her illness and trying to help others, even if I don’t think this book is particularly helpful.
1. Suzy was an Olympic runner who, in a time of undiagnosed bipolar mania, decided to become a high-end Vegas escort. However, in this book, she provided so much detail about her time as an escort, it was sometimes verging on pornographic. She kept describing how happy it made her, how alive it made her feel. The amount of details she shared seemed less like a sober confession and more like a revelry of her “glory days.” It made me realize she still has some recovering to do.
2. She really doesn’t seem that apologetic for anything that she did. Yes, she has a mental illness, which is partially to blame. I truly don’t think she would’ve become an escort had she not been struggling with bipolar disorder, and I love the message of not allowing shame in because shame is powerless to change you, but some more acknowledgement of the hurt she caused would’ve shown that she understands the weight of her actions. I don’t know that she does.
3. So much time is spent on her mania, and it is only the last chapter wherein she finally discusses how she got help, and that is just a few sentences. I wanted to know more about what recovery looked like for her, how she picked up the shattered remains of her life and pieced them back together. Instead, all I know is a list of names of men she had sex with and all the expensive gifts they bought her.
4. She openly condones the sex trade and marital infidelity. I’ve done way too much research on sex trafficking to feel comfortable with her statement that exchanging money for sex is empowering and perfectly acceptable. I also kept thinking about all the poor wives of the men she was sleeping with, and I cannot fathom why her loving husband gave her his permission to pursue this lifestyle. I wish we had gotten more of his perspective to help me understand what kind of place he was in mentally during all of this.
Overall, I still feel worried about Suzy. I want to believe that she is seeking the help she needs and won’t go back to her old life, but I’m not sure she herself even knows if that’s true. I’m still proud of her for speaking out about her illness and trying to help others, even if I don’t think this book is particularly helpful.