sampena16's review against another edition
5.0
"This is your family I am running here. I can't take credit for more than remembering to point to you when I do something right and for continuing to put one foot in front of the other when I lose heart. We all miss you something fierce, those of us who wouldn't exist had you not kept walking when an ordinary person would have fallen to his knees. To covey in an existing language how I miss you isn't possible. It would be like blue trying to describe the ocean."
I am still recovering from this book. The last chapter absolutely destroyed me. This gorgeous, gorgeous epistolary is deeply moving, unflinchingly personal and wow - just wow. The prose was pure poetry. I got lost in her language. Parker's writing style is exactly the way I write, except just so deliciously good. Some letters are funny, some nostalgic, and some just punch you in the gut and you're left with a wad of tissues and you have no idea how you got there. Weaving through moments of her life - both big and small - Parker relays the triumphs, confusion, shame, anger and love that she's experienced and all the people, men specifically, who have helped shape who she is today.
I am still recovering from this book. The last chapter absolutely destroyed me. This gorgeous, gorgeous epistolary is deeply moving, unflinchingly personal and wow - just wow. The prose was pure poetry. I got lost in her language. Parker's writing style is exactly the way I write, except just so deliciously good. Some letters are funny, some nostalgic, and some just punch you in the gut and you're left with a wad of tissues and you have no idea how you got there. Weaving through moments of her life - both big and small - Parker relays the triumphs, confusion, shame, anger and love that she's experienced and all the people, men specifically, who have helped shape who she is today.
steakuccino's review against another edition
3.0
Star-wise, I'm not sure, really. 3.5? 4? I'm in love with her turn of phrase. She really has a way with words but I struggle with her use of the word 'tranny' (late in the final chapter, not used in a way that's meant to be derogatory , actually the opposite, but absolutely unnecessary and shameful) and also with an early chapter which seems to fetishize the 'other'ness of a Yaqui Indian boy she knew in her youth.
The entire book was beautifully written otherwise but I can't give five stars to something that egregious.
I will say that I enjoyed the style of the letters and the dreamlike quality of Parker's writing.
The entire book was beautifully written otherwise but I can't give five stars to something that egregious.
I will say that I enjoyed the style of the letters and the dreamlike quality of Parker's writing.
steph7779's review against another edition
4.0
I listened to the audio version and really enjoyed it. I didn't know what to expect with this book and was surprised by what an excellent writer the author is. Her writing is unfiltered, authentic, intimate, emotional, and poetic. I thought the metaphor of Cerberus, the mythical three headed dog, as a jumble of her bad/abusive relationships was clever. I enjoyed some letters more than others, but overall, was entertained and wanted to keep listening. I particularly liked the final letter about her dad, the letter to the orderly in the hospital after she gave birth to her son, and the letter to her daughter's future husband.
jfruth's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
oohsarracuda's review against another edition
3.0
Nobody involved with this book, from beginning to end, told Mary-Louise Parker that "tranny" is a slur?
indecisivespice's review against another edition
Good god was this obnoxious. It started out pretty great, but then it just moved into the "too many diqs on the dancefloor" stage when we detailed the dude spitting the coke into her mouth like HARD PASS.