visualradish's review
4.0
I now read all of Beth Lisick's published books. I didn't connected with some of the stories in the stories, especially the bar stories in the first part. Some of the other stories were amazing. You can see the beginnings of "This too can be yours" in this book.
Here is the list of her books in the order of my ratings -
1) This too can be yours
2) Everybody into the pool
3) Monkey Girl
4) Helping me help myself
Here is the list of her books in the order of my ratings -
1) This too can be yours
2) Everybody into the pool
3) Monkey Girl
4) Helping me help myself
trin's review against another edition
3.0
I loved Lisick's memoir, [book: Everybody Into the Pool], in part because it's one of the few—perhaps the only—memoirs I've read that depicts a funny, weird, messed-up adult without pinning all those traits on a fucked-up, miserable childhood (No, look, my childhood is the MOST miserable! See how miserable it was? Wallow in the shit of my childhood a little more, plz).
ANYWAY...Lisick didn't do that! (Although Pool does contain a hilarious and squirm-worthy incident involving, um. Shit.) But I digress, as I'm actually supposed to be talking about Monkey Girl, her earlier collection of short stories/spoken word-type stuff. The idea of "spoken word" usually makes me cringe (that's not what I go to bars or coffee shops for, okay?) but as I said, I liked Pool, so I was willing to give this a shot. I'm glad I did. It's nothing revolutionary, but Lisick once again makes a good tour guide for the Bay Area underground: humorous, self-deprecating, not the least bit poseur-y, self-righteous, or faux. And I believe in her Bay Area; it touches on the Bay Area I experienced enough to make me pleasantly nostalgic. I'm not sure if this book would do much for you if the San Francisco/Berkeley scene isn't one with which you're familiar, but I liked it.
ANYWAY...Lisick didn't do that! (Although Pool does contain a hilarious and squirm-worthy incident involving, um. Shit.) But I digress, as I'm actually supposed to be talking about Monkey Girl, her earlier collection of short stories/spoken word-type stuff. The idea of "spoken word" usually makes me cringe (that's not what I go to bars or coffee shops for, okay?) but as I said, I liked Pool, so I was willing to give this a shot. I'm glad I did. It's nothing revolutionary, but Lisick once again makes a good tour guide for the Bay Area underground: humorous, self-deprecating, not the least bit poseur-y, self-righteous, or faux. And I believe in her Bay Area; it touches on the Bay Area I experienced enough to make me pleasantly nostalgic. I'm not sure if this book would do much for you if the San Francisco/Berkeley scene isn't one with which you're familiar, but I liked it.
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