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jnowal's review against another edition
3.0
I'm not sure what to say about this book, because the things I liked and didn't like about it are the same things. Yes, I found the footnotes disruptive and a little tedious to read, except I mostly enjoyed their content. Yes, the actual narrative is very sparse and not that interesting, but maybe that was the point - and I think descriptions of adolescent angst definitely benefit from brevity. Neither the story nor the footnotes can really stand on their own, which seems either clever or pretentious. I enjoyed reading this, but maybe that was just because it was so short that I didn't have time to get too annoyed.
I wanted to read this book because I went to school with Stephanie in Paris, so I do think there was another layer of interest for me that might have kept me more entertained than I would have been otherwise.
I wanted to read this book because I went to school with Stephanie in Paris, so I do think there was another layer of interest for me that might have kept me more entertained than I would have been otherwise.
sarah_dietrich's review against another edition
3.0
A touching portrayal of an ill young woman whose life feels out of her control. An interesting structure sees Stephanie's objects interrupting the flow of the story via frequent footnotes. This mirrors how Stephanie used her objects as touchstones in her life, allowing her to retain some control.
brandysith's review against another edition
4.0
If only we could give half stars, I want to rate this as a 3.5.
LaCava reminded me of myself a bit as a child and teen. Being a bit odd, the fascination with collecting things. The writing style is beautiful, but for a memoir, it's very disjointed. It starts strong, but there isn't a rhyme or reason to the massive time jumps. There are certain areas that I think she should have expanded upon (like her treatment after her mental breakdown) and towards the end, she's not very clear why she is going back and forth between Paris and New York again.
I had very mixed feelings about the pictures and footnotes. While I enjoyed them, they interrupted the flow of reading. Maybe they could have been bettered served at the end of the book, after the epilogue.
LaCava reminded me of myself a bit as a child and teen. Being a bit odd, the fascination with collecting things. The writing style is beautiful, but for a memoir, it's very disjointed. It starts strong, but there isn't a rhyme or reason to the massive time jumps. There are certain areas that I think she should have expanded upon (like her treatment after her mental breakdown) and towards the end, she's not very clear why she is going back and forth between Paris and New York again.
I had very mixed feelings about the pictures and footnotes. While I enjoyed them, they interrupted the flow of reading. Maybe they could have been bettered served at the end of the book, after the epilogue.
maggierthanyou's review against another edition
4.0
I bought this in Paris, correctly guessing that it would be an insightful read, since it’s a memoir about an American in Paris. Rather than depict a highly superficial glamorized life of moving abroad, the authors tells a story of struggle and sadness through the objects that surround her and tie her to histories all over the world rather than the place that should be home. Though I’m a 22 year old rather than a 12 year old abroad, it was special to read this book to name that feeling of lonliness, longing, which I also seem to soothe with small, material or intangible comforts
superdilettante's review against another edition
3.0
I appreciate the sentiments felt and expressed by the author, and I relate to her accumulation of talismanic objects, but I wanted to poke her, hard.