As previously evidenced, I really love Anthony Bourdain. I think he’s an excellent TV personality, a good writer, and by all accounts a decent cook. I read his books out of order, but that didn’t seem to take away from anything. Kitchen Confidential was everything I wanted it to be. Straight-forward (as much as any memoir is, I suppose), lurid, profane, and yet somehow elegant. Bourdain has such a distinctive voice, be in in television or writing, and there’s no question of ghostwriters other autobiographies may raise. […]
You should be a bad feminist
I wanted to quote this entire book. So many passages had me screaming, yes, yes, yes. Gay hits the nail on the head in her collection of scattered essays going all the way from scrabble to movie reviews to society. She is definitely strongest when she takes something in society and picks it apart based on phenomena in literature. I imagine a lot of cannonballers enjoy reading book reviews and if so Gay is a tremendous joy. She does battle with some inconsistencies, but it […]
How Did You Get This Number by Sloane Crosley
This collection of essays by Sloane Crosley begins with a spur-of-the-moment trip she takes to Portugal, and how incredibly lonely she was there (until she meets some clowns, of course). From there, we move on to her life in New York City and bad relationships and other trials in her life (a bear-infested wedding, for one). It’s well written, but just a couple of days later I really can’t recall much of it. It made a very slight impression on me. I did like this line, however: “Time grabs you […]
People Are Unappealing: Even Me by Sara Barron
I thought I had read Sara Barron before, but I guess I’m mixing her up with someone. Possibly Sloane Crosley. Or Sara Benincasa. I’ve read a lot of humorous memoirs written by funny women this year, courtesy of my sister’s bookshelf and Barnes & Noble addiction, and I think this was one of the better ones written by someone I’ve never heard of before. Sara Barron’s memoir runs a pretty familiar comedy route: weird parents, awkward upbringing, a move to New York full of bad decisions […]
Yes Please by Amy Poehler
Okay, now here’s something that may surprise you: Amy Poehler’s book is really, really good. I know–you’re shocked, right? How could someone with so much talent and general coolness be a good writer, too? It’s totally unfair. But it’s the truth–I inhaled this book and am now hoping and praying that she’ll find some time to write another (not holding my breath, however, as she reminds us several times: writing is hard). “That is the motto women should constantly repeat over and over again. Good for her! […]
The horror of losing yourself
I’ve seen Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness (2013) by Susannah Cahalan around in bookstores and it caught my interest. So I finally picked it up. This was a fast read and a fascinating true story of a 24-year-old woman who loses her mind, without warning and without explanation. Susannah Cahalan is a reporter at the New York Post when her life starts slowly unraveling. It starts with a little paranoia, acting odd, and missing deadlines. Susannah’s symptoms quickly progress to where she is […]
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