A review by somanybookstoread
Horror Stories: A Memoir by Liz Phair

adventurous lighthearted reflective fast-paced

3.5

I have respect for Liz Phair. Her music from the 1990s (through whitechocolatespaceegg) was a staple of my adolescence. I loved her no nonsense, nonconformist attitude and I played each of the 1990s albums regularly. I lost interest in her music when it became more poppy and mainstream. But it was interesting to read about her account of this shift in her memoir. In Horror Stories, she is honest, flawed, and vulnerable. She shares stories that help paint a richer picture of her career, such as having to sing on live TV with the flu, messing up, and being shit talked. She writes about her life in a way I could sometimes relate to, especially in the final essay, “Goodbyes” which is a beautiful account on impermanence. The form - a memoir written as a collection of essays - is my favorite form of memoir. That said, I found the undercurrent of loneliness to read as dependency on men in a way that hit a nerve for me. And I much prefer her voice in a song than on the page.