Reviews

Memoirs and Misinformation by Dana Vachon, Jim Carrey

turtleofbabel's review against another edition

4.0

I...I think I kind of get it.

doritobabe's review against another edition

4.0

4/5

My first review upon completion: "Super weird. Loved it."

My second review after a month:

I still love this book. I love thinking about reading this book. What a dazzling fever dream that kept me pondering but also completely engaged as the "story" unfurled.

Whatever Carrey and Vachon wanted this book to be, I am not sure. Everyone who reads it will have a differing opinion and likely tout it for being a "literary achievement", or perhaps accolades will pour in about the dark humor; the social commentary, etc. etc. For fear of being one of those folks - who are not wrong, mind you - I want to the err on the side of: "I have no idea what his point was, but I loved every page that I turned."

Why am I not rating this 5 stars then, you ask? It is because the book itself "devolved" into a "story" that, to me, was not as captivating as the caricatures developed and the somewhat-incoherent and uncomfortable ramblings that were so excellently developed in the first 2/3rds of the text. I could care less about

Spoiler

the alien invasion and the kidnapping.

Though these were elements I adored, I cared more about who the characters were and their stories and how they "got" to the point that they were in the story. For example, Carrey and Vachon basically gave every newly introduced person a little write up as to what happened to make them be the way they are/were in the text. These were the best fictional anecdotes; they were fun and adventurous.

I have definitely recommended this to a few people and thing it is a fun Covid read. Get your mind off things and explore a reality-fantasy.

cowabungdude's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

reads_a_lot's review against another edition

5.0

The mind of an empath who sees beyond the veil. Breadcrumbs and guilt woven together like an action movie. Navigating spirituality as Thich Quang Duc.

michaelmac316's review against another edition

funny sad medium-paced

2.75

If you want to feel high without taking any drugs. Read this book. 

julieverive's review

3.0

That book was bonkers. I'm not sure what to think. There are things I loved and things that drew on a bit too long but wow. Bonkers.

otchoumak's review against another edition

The first chapter pulled me in but once I realized this was mostly fiction, and also kind of a fever dream, I started to lose interest. May have also been Jeff Daniel’s’ narration. There is something self-important about his voice. Might be a weak reason to stop listening to a book but that’s how it goes with audiobooks…

swicksy's review against another edition

1.0

In this book, Jim Carrey references writer Charlie Kaufman. You can tell Carrey would love this to equal the unique creative mind and writings of Mr. Kaufman, but instead we get a bloated, incomprehensible and pretentious mess. There are a few moments that work, but they are few and far between. The last section of the book completely goes off the rails, and that's saying a lot for a book that starts off derailed.

tylerruddhall's review against another edition

sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

akatewood's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

I didn’t understand the point of it.