A review by saluki
Furiously Happy: A Funny Book About Horrible Things by Jenny Lawson

5.0

Serious subject... MENTAL ILLNESS. And... I cracked up laughing so many times. This is the best pressie I gave myself this year.

I opted for the the audiobook rather than the dead tree format. So glad I did... it felt more intimate and I was connected. Totally connected. Let me explain why. Well, foremost I'm a domestic slut. I abhor housework. It's unpaid, it's boring, it's unappreciated and taken for granted. It doesn't just suck hours out of my life... it sucks effing years out of my life. And, it makes me miserable as I'd rather be reading, talking and playing with my dog or playing games. Cue the invention of audiobooks, that I have come to love belatedly... I'm always late to the game! And housework isn't (quite) the chore it was.

So now I'm hoovering up my beloved ones dead skin cells while laughing crazy with voices in my ear. Frankly, that is normal without the hoover anyway as my internal monologue refuses to let me sleep properly or relax anyway. Hence, the books.

Again... this book is about a serious subject. Mental Health. And Jenny opens herself wide for any manner of speculation and criticism, and I salute her... I salute her honesty, I salute her personality, and I salute her dealing positively with her broken, fucked up, painful and crazy beautiful self.

Mental health issues are part of my family genetics and experiences. My brother is schizophrenic (obviously on lifetime meds) and I want to punch people in the face for thinking he's a total nut job to be avoided because he is one of the sweetest, sensitive and chilled human beings I know.

That Jenny is for all intents and purposes a shut-in, I understand. It's exhausting to wear a veneer of normalcy outside when you'd rather throw in the towel and go home. After the initial crippling stage fright Jenny experiences before major public events or meeting the public she opens her arms to her readers and they hug her back. For good reason.

I'll definately be recommending this read to a couple of people I know as they both need and will benefit greatly from this book. And, they'll laugh. A lot.

My favourite book of 2015. And, Neil Gaiman nearly dropped to second place as favourite author for the first time in two decades but then he writes fiction and Jenny writes autobiographical humour. So I'll put them in joint first. And his advice to Jenny is golden.

Now I need to hear Jenny's first book.

I can't even put into words how much this book has deeply touched me.