Educated

by Tara Westover
March 10-23, 2019

It somehow seems wrong to judge a person's memoir. But that's just about what I am going to do. I understand that there are definitely people out there that live sheltered, unfathomable lives. But this one was eye-roll inducing. The first issue I had was with the "I think it happened this way; so-and-so thinks it happened that way." None of her memories are truly clear. There were too many footnotes like this that reduced some of the credibility. All of her memories are of horrific accidents and injuries and yet not one person died from these events. Her mother makes tinctures that save lives. Let's get the Cleveland Clinic to knock on their door...it's a miracle! Second, the timeline was disjointed at best. At one point the book jumps from Y2K to September 11. Tsk-tsk for an author with a PhD.

Which leads me to the "Educated" portion. If your delusional, government-fearing father is so anti-education, and you live on a mountain in the middle of nowhere, how do you even know you want an education? And once this education begins, Westover somehow becomes like the Forrest Gump of college – being afforded insanely generous opportunities to BYU, Cambridge and Harvard. And somehow there's enough money and scholarships for this to happen.

I understand the someone so cut off from society could truly be ignorant to the ways of the world. But,

"Was I pregnant? I wasn't sure."

This naiveté did not evoke empathy, just annoyance. COME ON. You are at BYU. Google it for goodness sake.

The memoir did start to come together more for me towards the end, but by that point, I just wanted to finish it. I know I'm in the minority on this one, but I'm just tougher to please these days. (A- on the cover design though.)

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The Sound of Gravel

by Ruth Wariner
Nov 19-Dec 3, 2017

I try to be respectful of other religions, whether or not I agree or understand the point of view of different faiths. But I simply cannot wrap my mind around polygamy. I don't think that God would want children to suffer in poverty and malnutrition all in His name. And for men to have 20, 30, 40-plus children that he can't even begin to provide for ... I find it selfish, not holy.

Ruth Wariner is a brave woman for putting her horrific childhood on paper for us to read. There's no doubt that her mother loved her 10 children, but unfortunately she loved her disgusting predator of a husband more. Maybe that's simplifying the matter, but complicating it with religion somehow seems to condone his unholy actions.

“Mom couldn’t teach me that because she didn’t know herself. She couldn’t show me how to be happy, only how to barely survive.”

This book made me sad, angry and left me feeling helpless. The world already faces enough poverty and neglect; choosing a lifestyle where these things are a given is ludicrous. Unfortunately, stories like Ruth's will continue to be exposed and we'll still feel powerless.

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Stories I Only Tell My Friends

by Robe Lowe
January-April 2014

I have to admit something. I have been a completely pathetic reader this year. The good thing is that it's only May and I've already taken three trips/vacations, with 2-3 more still pending, but all that fun and frolic seriously cuts into my reading time. It just doesn't pay to read after a night out of drinking ... it only means that I end up rereading that same chapter over again. And though I love to read on an airplane, once I'm at my destination, reading wanes. Mainly because there is always a TV in the bedroom; one thing I will not allow myself at home. It's proof right there that I will choose the boob tube over a book. Anyway...

I've had the Audible version of Stories... since it first came out. A friend of mine pestered me incessantly to read it. Not sure why I held off. Rob Lowe really has some amazing stories about his life experiences. He's kind of like Forrest Gump in that way ... he literally was always at the right place at the right time to meet actors, politicians and even princesses ... and date practically all of the women he met.

This audiobook is the perfect example of when it's appropriate for the author to narrate his own book. Lowe has an amazing ability with impressions, expressions and compassion. There were parts that were laugh-out-loud funny, and stories that were poignant and sad (his inadvertent involvement with Flight 96). There's really no need to write a complete synopsis because that would serve to only give away the surprise and delight of each anecdote. I will, however, say that the stories about the casting and the making of The Outsiders were my favorite. I'm dying to watch that movie again now that I know a little of the inside scoop.

I suppose at some point I will listen to his latest, Love Life, which supposedly was written because there was such a high demand from fans for "more." Bottom line is that this is worth the listen. I'm sure the written word is good as well, but his voice made it that much better. No great literary work, but a fun look into an actor's crazy life.

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Orange is the New Black: My Year in a Women's Prison

by Piper Kerman
August 4-19, 2013


It all started with Arrested Development, Season 4. WHAT?! Well, the highly anticipated, Netflix-only fourth season is what convinced me to join Netflix in the first place (BTW, you need to watch it if ever you were an AD fan). And after I tore through all 15 episodes, my Netflix suggestions taunted me with OITNB. I ignored them. After all, I know I missed the boat on Mad Men, and I had every intention of binge-watching it next. Then, my favorite fashion gurus wrote this post. That was all I needed.

Wow. Quite possibly the best show (a Netflix original series) I've ever watched. I'm not really going to go into great detail about it though, since I'm here to talk about the book, but trust me, watch it. You'll thank me later. It's been a constant discussion between myself and other Orange fans, obsessing over online articles about the cast as well as the real-life Piper. By about episode eight, I had to have the book.

The book, a memoir, is the true story of what happened to Kerman as a result of some bad decisions made right after graduating from Smith and her need for a little adventure in life (the show is loosely based on the truth). There isn't too much to say about it because it is what it is. It's not great story-telling, nor is really meant to be. It's an account of the facts. What I enjoyed most was recognizing the parallels to the show as well as when the show embellished on the truth.

After serving 15 months in a minimum security women's prison, Kerman walked away having learned a great lesson, but she also became an advocate for women's rights within the prison walls. To an extent, I agree with her, but then again, isn't that what prison is about? It's punishment, not vacation, and I'm sorry if your government-supplied underwear is uncomfortable or if the food is bland (although I cannot condone feeding anyone moldy food). I'm generalizing, I know, but this is a bigger discussion, and my little ol' blog just isn't the forum.

So my recommendations is this: watch the show. Now. Then read the book. I promise it won't spoil anything that the first season may not have covered. And unfortunately season two is about a year away.

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Late, Late at Night

by Rick Springfield
Apr 19 - May 16, 2011

OK, here goes. I have always said that Rick was my first boyfriend before I met JBJ (and Olivia was my first fave girl before I was introduced to Stevie), so I was pretty excited to hear that he wrote a memoir. Little did I know that by the time I got to the end of it, I would kind of hate him. Am I still a true fan? I think so. "Jessie's Girl" will always bring out the guitar leg in me, as well as remind me of the fight I got into at the Basement with a friend's ex-wife, but I guess that's a different story.

My first thoughts, after reading the first 30 pages or so, was that this guy must have failed English class miserably, and that he should have enlisted a professional writer's help. RS had a bit of trouble with past and present tense and when it's proper to use which one. I'm guessing that his goal was to write with his stream of conscious, but it didn't work. Plus, he couldn't complete a thought before jumping to a new one. He would start a story about something that happened when he was 13, and in less than a sentence, end at age 31. When he explained that he was clinically depressed, it all began to make sense. This depression even got "his" own name: Mr. D. Once I got used to that craziness, I found the memoir to painfully drag on. I mean, I really don't care what he did when he was 13! I don't think it was necessary to take up over half the book on a childhood no one cares about when in truth no one ever really heard of him until his early 30s.

Pretty much from the time RS was 14, all he cared about was having sex. Once he finally found a willing woman, he practically made it his life's goal to have sex with anyone who looked at him sideways. I'm in no way naive, and I totally get that rock stars are all so sex-starved, but something about the way RS told his story made him a total sleaze ball. Why does it sound so much more acceptable coming from someone like Tommy Lee? I don't know. The point where the book lost all credibility to me was when RS described his relationship with Linda Blair (green-vomiting, head-spinning, possessed girl from The Exorcist). When they met, he "took her virginity." She was 15 and he was 25. The way he told it made it seem like the most normal, natural occurrence between a grown man and a teenage girl. He even said that her mother approved of the relationship. Ewwww! Pedophile!! I'm sorry, but that's just gross. And remember, he wasn't even famous at this point.

He continued to go on and on about the millions of affairs he had all while explaining that his wife is his soul mate and how lucky he is to have her in his life. The book was just completed in 2010 and he was still having affairs a year ago! Really not sure why his wife continues to forgive him. And I guess at this point I really don't care anymore.

The one small redeeming subject was of his love for dogs. Dogs seemed to have been what kept him sane through his turbulent past. But by the last few chapters, I was so fed up with his ridiculous behavior that I wasn't interested in his stupid dogs. But he is extremely passionate about his craft. For that I can thank him for many memories, great songs, and my first-ever concert!

He tried to regain (my) credibility near the end by explaining:

"I remember meeting a friend at a party in the early '70s, who'd just had a big hit with the song 'Baby Come Back.' He was telling me that the first thing he did was go out and buy a Ferrari. Six months later he was asking me if I knew anyone who wanted to buy it. That stuck in my head, and although it's a relief not to have to worry about paying the electric bill every month, for me, money is just a way of keeping score of how well I am or am not doing. What it's really about is the joy of writing music people want to hear, playing to people who want to celebrate with me; of being in a career I'm passionate about..."

But he went on to finish that thought by completely ruining the poignancy of the moment:

"...and having sex with lots of strangers."

I'm not sure what RS was hoping to accomplish with this memoir. In my opinion, he gained a few enemies with it. If he intended to heal wounds or mend fences with people, I can't imagine that he succeeded. For myself, I won't be attending another one of his cheesy concerts – held at a Rib-Burn-Off near you. Unless I get free tickets.

Oh, and extra credit goes to whoever can guess who sang "Baby Come Back" without Googling it.

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The Glass Castle

by Jeannette Walls

So, yeah, I'm way behind on book posts. Not good. I even had exciting news to share and didn't get around to that. How rude of me. I got a Kindle for Christmas!! At first I didn't think I wanted one, you know, because real books look, smell and feel so cool. But I'm finding my Kindle to be a delightful sidekick to regular books. Busy me took four trips in three months and my Kindle was the best travel companion. My only complaint is that you have that 20 minute take-off and landing issue where you can't read. I found myself sneaking it into a magazine so I could keep going. I mean, if I shut the wireless off, is there really going to be a problem?!

The Glass Castle was my very first Kindle purchase back in January. I was headed to Chicago to see two dear friends, and I bought the book (in under 60 seconds!) in the airport on the way. Once I was on the plane, in flight, I tried to access the Kindle store with no luck, so I guess there's only so much you can do at 10,000 feet. And since I was on a plane not much bigger than my Kia Soul, sitting in the front row, the flight attendant felt the need to talk to me about my Kindle the whole time. Seriously, can't you see I have a new toy and I'm trying to read it?! I don't care about your Sony reader! She never got my subtle hints, and I'm admittedly not one to just tell some to S.T.F.U. (look it up)

I know I'm way late in reading The Glass Castle too, as it was published five years ago. But it's been on my list forever, so it was a perfect choice for my swanky new book reader. Needless to say I was instantly drawn in. The chapters were short and very honest. Chapter Two's first sentence was "I was on fire." Doesn't take much more than that to be completely drawn in.

This book is a memoir about a family so abjectly poor it made my heart ache for the four little children. They would go so long without food that the kids had to steal it from the school cafeteria and sometimes resort to picking old food from the garbage. It was nothing for them to eat moldy bread because their mother told them it built character. The alcoholic father was a man who constantly ran away from his problems. He moved his family all over, and most of the time, they were squatters in old, abandoned homes or buildings. And at the risk of a spoiler alert (although I think I'm safe since I'm one of the last people to read this), at the very end, we find out that the family had plenty of opportunity to be millionaires, but the whack job parents chose the life they struggled through. That fact is what made it unbelievable to think that this really happened. But I guess you can't make up a life like that.

If there's anyone else out there who hasn't read this book, go now and get it. It puts a lot of things into perspective. It definitely made me reflect on how grateful I am for my family and the priveldges I am afforded.



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A Wolf at the Table

Everyone knows that Augusten Burroughs had an extremely f*ed up childhood. Running with Scissors was unbelievable and extremely difficult to read at times, but it was all true and you had to have compassion for this poor boy. And for some reason, we are compelled to keep reading about him. I think it's mostly because his writing style is simple, yet humorous, and we know that for the most part he is a mentally healthy adult now. Not to say that his early adulthood wasn't as messed up as his childhood (read Dry), but still.

This time Burroughs sets out to tell of his early childhood with his father – the wolf – and his desperate attempt to get attention, love and validation from this man. My heart would break as I read passage after passage of even the smallest attempts for Augusten to get his father to notice him; only to be rejected over and over again. His father was one sick ticket who didn't even deserve to have children (seems there are so many who don't deserve it, yet they're the ones procreating). John Robison was emotionless, violent and a raging alcoholic.

However, I can't say that this was a great book. This one read more as sentences of facts rather than a memoir or a novel. While I was interested in the father/son relationship, it just didn't do the best job at holding my attention as Burroughs' previous books. The humor was gone and in its place was darkness. But I believe that it is utterly necessary for Augusten to write about his life in order to continue his attempt at healing. It is amazing what this one person had to endure ...  you couldn't make this stuff up.

While A Wolf at the Table was not my favorite, I don't regret reading it. Running... is still my favorite of his books (the movie didn't even begin to do it justice). And now he's written another biography, this time of short Christmas stories that could be fun. But I'm beginning to think he needs to explore the fiction world a little further: his wit and writing style deserves to branch out and it just might be time to stop with the memoirs.



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Grayson

by Lynne Cox

When Lynne was 17-years old and swimming off the coast of northern California, she had such an amazing experience that 30 years later she wrote a memoir. Just as she was finishing a grueling swim in 55° water, she noticed that a lost baby gray whale was following her. For her to swim ashore would certainly kill the whale. Very quickly her and Grayson (she named him) developed a rapport that would seen inconceivable between animal and human. She stayed in the chilly water for another three hours until finally she was able to reunite the baby with his mother.

The story was fascinating and almost unbelievable at times, but still enchanting. Cox has a wonderful, descriptive writing style that kept me interested throughout the short, ten-chapter book. I actually had the audio version of this one and it's a good thing the story was so unique. The author herself read it and I can honestly say it was one of the worst narrations I have ever heard. Absolutely no tonal change in her low, breathy, droning voice. She even took the excitement out of a story that was nothing but. I would highly recommend that whoever is in charge rerecord the book with a different reader. I only hung on because it was really short and I had to hear that Grayson survived. But now that you know that, save yourself and read the 176 pages instead of listening to them.

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Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger's

I've had this one on my radar since it was first released at the end of 2007. Mainly because the memoir is by the brother of Augusten Burroughs, an author who I truly admire. Augusten's memoir, Running With Scissors, is one of those books that I think about often and still marvel at the fact that it's a true story. These poor kids had such a screwed up childhood it's unbelievable that they even survived.

John Elder Robison has Asperger's syndrome, and was born in a time before this autistic syndrome was even recognized. His family just thought he was odd and ill-behaved. He had very few friends because his social skills were pitiful. He was very lonely. But John's brain was so high-functioning that he was a genius with mechanics and electronics. So much so that when he dropped out of high school (even with a huge IQ) he toured with KISS, creating special effects and guitars for the band. In his early 20s John realized he needed to get a "real" job and got pretty lucky considering he had no degree. Once the corporate world got the best of him, he began his own exotic automobile repair business, in which he is still highly successful. It wasn't until John was 40 that he was diagnosed with Asperger's.

I read this book in two days. Granted, I was in the desert basking in the sunshine, but nevertheless it was a quick read. I have a whole new understanding for people who may seem "weird" on the surface, but who are really struggling socially and physically.

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