Scan barcode
amiewhittemore's review against another edition
5.0
This was a reread, and I enjoyed it just as much the second time around if not more. I love how lyrical and smart and wide this book is--while it is certainly focused on family, identity, and language--the inexpressible/expressible, etc--it also speaks to Nelson's intelligence and curiosity, the way she ties various sources and ideas together in a way that feels uniquely hers. Also Harry's memory of his mother's death destroys me everytime.
akovach's review against another edition
3.0
Some parts felt really profound while others didn't resonate as much. It was a recommendation from Molly Bernard - her favorite book. Nice, easy read.
susanbecruising's review against another edition
2.0
I won this book on a goodreads giveaway. I didn't really like the book but I don't think it spoke to me as it would for somebody who was seeking out this book. It was interesting but I just didn't like her writing style. There weren't any chapters, it jumped around to different topics and then went back to the original topic then went off on another tangent than back to the original story, I didn't like that. Also it address the book to "you" (Harry) but then it talked about Harry in the 3rd person which really bothered me, who is the book written for? Harry or me, the reader? Towards the end it felt like it was almost 'trying to hard' when interlacing the birth of her son with the death of her mom, going back and forth between the two stories though they weren't happening at the same time. I get it, the contrast of bringing a new life into the world as another one departs but it just felt almost forced. The last thing I didn't like were all of the quotes from others in it. If you're interested in the subject matter or love that fluid writing style, you'll probably enjoy the book but it just wasn't for me. I'm glad I read it though.
cowboylane's review against another edition
5.0
4.5/5 just lovely. i think i wanted more love story than queer theory but to see fluidity so celebrated—both in form and subject matter—made my little queer heart glow. nelson has some really gorgeous moments of prose as well - i look forward to coming back and digesting parts of this all over again.
breannenance's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
3.5
I enjoyed this book. It gave me a perspective I’ve never read from. The language was sometimes too vulgar for me but I think that was the point. Overall not bad.
velocirachael's review against another edition
5.0
A beautiful book about motherhood, womanhood, self, relationships, and gender. This was one of those amazing cases of checking something out because it happened to be available, and then loving it.
carolehto's review against another edition
2.0
Difficult subject matter, I just am not crazy about the author’s writing style.
erinrouleaux's review against another edition
2.0
August 30, 2020 update; I’ve just read an essay about this book by Olivia Laing in Funny Weather and as usual Laing sheds light (I’d argue *gives light) on every subject she writes about and I’m seeing this book with fresh perspective. “...Nelson isn’t just airing her feelings out. She’s bent on using these experiences as ways of prying the culture open, of investigating what it is that’s being so avidly defended and policed...” “This interest in dependence and ambiguity is reflected stylistically, too. The Nelsonian unit of thought is not the chapter but the paragraph, a mode that allows for swerves and juxtapositions, for the interspersing of anecdote and analysis. If the danger of being elliptical is that one sometimes sounds dotty, the reward is an ability to dodge enclosure, to achieve by way of judicious layering a complexity that is otherwise elusive. This is bolstered by Nelson’s habit of lacing her text with italicized statements by other writers, the sources logged in the margins. The effect is musical, polyphonic, a conversation between multiple participants rather than a narcissistic aria for one.” <3
————————————————————————
This book came recommended from KOK in his book about Edvard Munch and so I had already hyped it, and then immediately I opened the cover to see the Minnesota shout out for the Minnesota State Arts Board [yada yada] grant and I know (I know!) this is my own personal beef with MN branding, but the more MN brags about itself the more vehemently I hate this place and all things associated with it. I know. This is my own struggle and I shouldn’t project, but I did.
But then her writing slayed me. And I love the style she writes in; almost journalistic. Foot-note heavy but not cumbersome for the reader- like stumbling upon someone’s favorite notebook full of quotes and good highlights.
She herself states “...I’m in drag as a “memoirist”” and I guess I didn’t come for a drag show, but the real thing.
I am disappointed in myself to say that I just can’t care about this struggle. Maybe I’m jaded. Okay, I’m jaded. (Although very happy to read about her happiness!) But I just can’t care about the struggle of living when it doesn’t pertain to loss. And I understand there’s a loss of identity and we’ve all been through that in lessening degrees, but when there are life and death matters in the world, I don’t want to waste my time reading theory about human rights that aren’t being threatened. I know, I know. They are threatened. All of our freedom is at stake.
If this had been more memoir and a little less thesis; if this had been more a personal vulnerability, I would have devoutly loved this because her writing is just that great, but personally, for me, it was a waste of time.
————————————————————————
This book came recommended from KOK in his book about Edvard Munch and so I had already hyped it, and then immediately I opened the cover to see the Minnesota shout out for the Minnesota State Arts Board [yada yada] grant and I know (I know!) this is my own personal beef with MN branding, but the more MN brags about itself the more vehemently I hate this place and all things associated with it. I know. This is my own struggle and I shouldn’t project, but I did.
But then her writing slayed me. And I love the style she writes in; almost journalistic. Foot-note heavy but not cumbersome for the reader- like stumbling upon someone’s favorite notebook full of quotes and good highlights.
She herself states “...I’m in drag as a “memoirist”” and I guess I didn’t come for a drag show, but the real thing.
I am disappointed in myself to say that I just can’t care about this struggle. Maybe I’m jaded. Okay, I’m jaded. (Although very happy to read about her happiness!) But I just can’t care about the struggle of living when it doesn’t pertain to loss. And I understand there’s a loss of identity and we’ve all been through that in lessening degrees, but when there are life and death matters in the world, I don’t want to waste my time reading theory about human rights that aren’t being threatened. I know, I know. They are threatened. All of our freedom is at stake.
If this had been more memoir and a little less thesis; if this had been more a personal vulnerability, I would have devoutly loved this because her writing is just that great, but personally, for me, it was a waste of time.
aa2q7's review against another edition
2.0
I guess I just don't "get" it but I didn't really love this book. (Maybe because it was an audiobook? Who knows?) It's half-memoir, half-theory, generally about Nelson's relationship with her husband and becoming a mother and how being a mother feels to her.