snackbeast's review against another edition
4.0
I hate giving star ratings to memoirs...it's like I'm judging someone's life experiences as "good enough." Normally, the only rating factor I incorporate is the quality of the writing. This was different. Ms. Thomas is a phenomenal writer and storyteller, AND the "story" was deeply moving, full, honest, and cringe-worthy. Nothing was hidden away, even the ugliest, darkest bits of her life were left out in the open for everyone to see.
As cliche as this is going to sound, I laughed, I cried, and I wanted more at then end...which is why I've already shelved "Three Dog Life" for future reading.
As cliche as this is going to sound, I laughed, I cried, and I wanted more at then end...which is why I've already shelved "Three Dog Life" for future reading.
eileen_critchley's review against another edition
3.0
***1/2 kind of random essays, but I enjoyed most of them.
megsib's review against another edition
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
Friends gave us this book a while ago, and as I was dusting the bookshelf, I picked it up and started reading the first pages. Thomas's writing is captivating and the short chapters made the book even more engaging. I loved the pace of this memoir and Thomas's wonderful humor.
I took a short break from the book as my turn came up in the library queue for All Quiet on the Western Front. After finishing that book, I had a hard time getting immersed back into Thomas's book. I thought I would have to shelve it and wait until the feeling of All Quiet was not such a presence in my reading mind. But I only ended up waiting a day and found it as enticing as it was before the pause. I'm glad I finished it.
I particularly liked her writing about her dogs and getting older and thinking about dying. I think if someone had told me the memoir was about aging and dying and thinking about that a lot, I would have not read the book. Don't let those themes deter you from reading it. It isn't a dreary book. It was more engaging for me than I Want to Die But I Want to Eat Tteokpokki, quicker paced, funnier, and more insightful for me about depression and being in a long funk.
One of my favorite parts, which there were many: Thomas is writing about the awful feeling of recognizing your own pending absence in a place you spend a lot of time (like home, bedroom).
"I get one of those awful moments when I feel nothing at all. Then thank god Harry farts one of his room-clearing farts and I have to put the scarf over my noes and I get up and find The Bourne Identity and stick it in the DVD player and the unfeeling retreats, but it doesn't disappear. Once you've felt this, you can't unfeel it. Once the carnal knowledge of your own death has jumped you, your innocent days are over. You can't put the shit back in the pig."
I took a short break from the book as my turn came up in the library queue for All Quiet on the Western Front. After finishing that book, I had a hard time getting immersed back into Thomas's book. I thought I would have to shelve it and wait until the feeling of All Quiet was not such a presence in my reading mind. But I only ended up waiting a day and found it as enticing as it was before the pause. I'm glad I finished it.
I particularly liked her writing about her dogs and getting older and thinking about dying. I think if someone had told me the memoir was about aging and dying and thinking about that a lot, I would have not read the book. Don't let those themes deter you from reading it. It isn't a dreary book. It was more engaging for me than I Want to Die But I Want to Eat Tteokpokki, quicker paced, funnier, and more insightful for me about depression and being in a long funk.
One of my favorite parts, which there were many: Thomas is writing about the awful feeling of recognizing your own pending absence in a place you spend a lot of time (like home, bedroom).
"I get one of those awful moments when I feel nothing at all. Then thank god Harry farts one of his room-clearing farts and I have to put the scarf over my noes and I get up and find The Bourne Identity and stick it in the DVD player and the unfeeling retreats, but it doesn't disappear. Once you've felt this, you can't unfeel it. Once the carnal knowledge of your own death has jumped you, your innocent days are over. You can't put the shit back in the pig."
katylang's review against another edition
5.0
Beautiful little memoir. Crystal clear and heartbreaking and full of emotion and real. The vignette style of the chapters and the frank interspersing of cancer with spatulas and painting and dogs might be off-putting to some, but I was in the right mood to absolutely love it.
"When Chuck and I first met, I was in love with a poet. [...] It ended sadly. The kind of ending where you wait together, holding hands and weeping, while off in another room, love slowly dies."
"Catherine was afraid I'd be angry with Chuck. Chuck was afraid I'd be angry with Catherine. This says something about all three of us, but I don't know what it is."
"But that night I was shut out of his world, and worse, shut out of my own, a world I'd put together, a world that contained my friend and my daughter."
"Sex isn't what I wanted from him, nor is it what he wanted from me, but it is something I"m aware of. Attraction isn't restricted to sex. One thing doesn't always lead to another. But it makes a nice hum in the background."
"When Chuck and I first met, I was in love with a poet. [...] It ended sadly. The kind of ending where you wait together, holding hands and weeping, while off in another room, love slowly dies."
"Catherine was afraid I'd be angry with Chuck. Chuck was afraid I'd be angry with Catherine. This says something about all three of us, but I don't know what it is."
"But that night I was shut out of his world, and worse, shut out of my own, a world I'd put together, a world that contained my friend and my daughter."
"Sex isn't what I wanted from him, nor is it what he wanted from me, but it is something I"m aware of. Attraction isn't restricted to sex. One thing doesn't always lead to another. But it makes a nice hum in the background."
iggnaseous's review against another edition
4.0
I'm surprised how much I like this memoir. It jumps from one time to another, relaying anecdotes and sometimes just snippets at a time, like memory itself. It's about ordinary life. Like the best writing in the genre, it's real and true.
talmahdi's review against another edition
3.0
I got the courage today to get out of bed and do another job interview and this sweet book has kept me company. And things turned out well! At least I guess..
On writing, love, sickness, loss, motherhood, warmth, friendships, longing and getting older, wiser, calmer.
I’ve enjoyed it a lot.. ❤️
On writing, love, sickness, loss, motherhood, warmth, friendships, longing and getting older, wiser, calmer.
I’ve enjoyed it a lot.. ❤️
herlifewithbooks's review against another edition
3.0
A memoir in vignettes that range from fascinating family/life drama to creativity to the most mundane of everyday activities.
sonjaharrison's review against another edition
5.0
Devoured it in one sitting on a flight and didn't care that it made me laugh and cry in public.