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| Penguin Books |
Jenny Lawson
2012
The Summary
"When Jenny Lawson was little, all she ever wanted was to fit in. That dream was cut short by her fantastically unbalanced father and a morbidly eccentric childhood. It did, however, open up an opportunity for Lawson to find the humor in the strange shame-spiral that is her life, and we are all the better for it.
"In the irreverent Let's Pretend This Never Happened, Lawson's long-suffering husband and sweet daughter help her uncover the surprising discover that the most terribly human moments--the ones we want to pretend never happened--are the very same moments that make us the people we are today.
"For every intellectual misfit who thought they were the only ones to think the things that Lawson dares to say out loud, this is a poignant and hysterical look at the dark, disturbing, yet wonderful moments of our lives."
The Good
Jenny Lawson is hysterically funny.
Even when bad things happen, she's willing to share them with others and laugh about what happened to her, or, at least, convince others to laugh with her as she relives the trauma. Although she doesn't have a filter, which translates to some rather outlandish statements, Lawson is able to capture a unique voice in her memoir that makes her stories relatable and memorable.
She's a bit absurd, I know, but she's hilarious. Even when she's faced with traumatic experiences, like Stanley the Magical Squirrel or her high school agriculture class where she lost a turkey baster inside of a cow (don't ask) or wearing a deer sweater (which is more sickening than you imagine), she manages to make these memories funny for her readers. Moreover, she has the ability to appeal to anyone who has had a non-traditional upbringing or who has ever thought their life is absolute mayhem.
She also captures those feelings of growing up and striking out, what it's like to go back and realize that the home you once knew--the childhood you'd unexpectedly treasured--is gone. Life changes, life keeps moving forward and you find out quickly that you can't go back. Lawson perfectly captures that melancholy and she expresses it in a way that feels familiar, bringing out an emotion that pinches at your heartstrings.
Her book, no matter how wild and absurd and occasionally crazy it may seem, is an examination of childhood, mental illness, marriage, friendship, and motherhood. It is a depiction of life that can seem ludicrous, but it is a full life with family, friends, love and laughter.
The Bad
I will admit that Lawson's work can be an acquired taste. I love her books, both Let's Pretend This Never Happened and Furiously Happy; however, I think she could rub some people the wrong way. She's sardonic, witty, sarcastic, but she has a mouth like a sailor and she's not afraid to discuss any subject.
I'm not joking.
No matter how unbearably awkward, excruciatingly personal or heartwrenchingly horrifying, Lawson will tell you all about her experiences. Sometimes, it's difficult because you feel like a bit of a voyeur; other times, you waffle between feeling relief that you don't have to deal with the absurdity she does or you feel a kinship for the odd and unusual things that happen to her because you endured the same.
The Ugly
Life can be an ugly, ugly business. Lawson, for the most part, manages to take the sting from tragedy by making her readers laugh at the absurdity. It still hurts, but, at least, some good does come from the bad.
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