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A review by corncobwebs
A List of Things That Didn't Kill Me: A Memoir by Jason Schmidt
It seems like Jason Schmidt turned out to be an exceptional human being, but it would be completely understandable if he ended up being a really dour person. His parents split when he was young, and (unconventionally) he ended up with his dad, who was verbally and physically abusive. His mom was completely out of the picture, so when his dad contracted AIDS when Schmidt was in high school, he had to deal with it completely on his own. This meant that, at 15, he was in charge of caring for the person who kicked him, threw him against the wall, and constantly told him how worthless he was. On top of all that, other people in his life kept dying -- some from AIDS, at least one from drug addiction, one from suicide. He was raging, for sure, but he managed to stay away from drugs and keep going to school. Even though this is a really heavy book, there's still some humor, and the writing was great -- Schmidt is clearly very self-aware and intelligent, so he tells his story with clarity and wit.
I love messed-up childhood memoirs, and also memoirs about people with diseases -- this book had both! I think part of my enjoyment is voyeuristic, but another part (hopefully the bigger part) likes reading books like this because they broaden my worldview. I had a pretty conventional childhood, so it's eye-opening to read about children/teens who live in abusive situations. It's important knowledge to internalize, especially in my line of work -- I come across people all the time who are mean/rude/unruly, and maybe instead of being all judge-y, I should consider that maybe they had a really crappy childhood. Not to say that having a crappy childhood automatically means you turn out to be a jerk -- that's not true at all. I just think it's important to be understanding when someone doesn't act the way you want them to. Books like this remind me that I need to do that.
I love messed-up childhood memoirs, and also memoirs about people with diseases -- this book had both! I think part of my enjoyment is voyeuristic, but another part (hopefully the bigger part) likes reading books like this because they broaden my worldview. I had a pretty conventional childhood, so it's eye-opening to read about children/teens who live in abusive situations. It's important knowledge to internalize, especially in my line of work -- I come across people all the time who are mean/rude/unruly, and maybe instead of being all judge-y, I should consider that maybe they had a really crappy childhood. Not to say that having a crappy childhood automatically means you turn out to be a jerk -- that's not true at all. I just think it's important to be understanding when someone doesn't act the way you want them to. Books like this remind me that I need to do that.