Musical Chairs
Jen Knox
Indie Memoir/YA
[rating: 5/5]
Available in…
• Mobi/Kindle
… from…
• Amazon
• MobiPocket
Also in paperback
Some time ago, Jen Knox and I swapped memoirs. She sent me a copy of Musical Chairs, which explores her family’s history of mental health diagnoses, her years of strip-dancing, alcoholism, and estrangement, and her struggle for reconciliation. (That’s from the cover.)
I also sent her a copy of Love through the Eyes of an Idiot. In full disclosure, just as I had started reading her book, Jen sent me an email about mine:
I finally posted my review of your delightful book. Oh how it made me remember how lucky I am to have found Chris after all the relationships (if you can call them that) that came before him. He thanks you. I thank you, for writing a great read.
Truthfully, I’m gratified that Jen enjoyed my book. And I did really want to like hers as well— I always want to like a book from a fellow author, and it upsets me when I don’t. But I will tell you exactly what problems I had with Musical Chairs:
-
I ran across numerous line-editing issues, including misspelled words, bad punctuation (like ending a sentence with a comma, in at least two places), and sentences that made no sense in context. The best typo I found on page 152, where Jen wrote about working at the bookstore: “As I cleared dust from a self in the psychology section…” So, was that an ego or an id? (Ba dum bum.)
-
Some details were missing from spots in the story where I would naturally expect them, popping up as surprises elsewhere. For example, all the time Jen was staying with Miss Sarah and her daughter (in the chapter entitled “Miss Sarah”), I thought Sarah was a white, single mother. It was only much later in the book that I was told that Sarah (or at least her daughter) had darker skin, that she was married to a Latino who had treated Jen rudely, and that she had some pretty bizarre racial ideas.
-
Jen begins with a panic attack, and she concludes as the panic attacks disappear… I think. I have nothing against waxing eloquent, as she did in the epilogue; I’m just not sure how she concluded the story. (But otherwise the epilogue did leave me feeling uplifted and satisfied.)
All of my complaints were counterbalanced, however, by the fact that I literally couldn’t put the damn book down! That’s why I’ve been absent this week. I blew through the entire thing in a little over a day, immersing myself in her story every moment I could. Really, no joke, no exaggeration: I read until I got tired; then I napped, woke up, and continued where I left off; lather, rinse, repeat.
Truthfully, before I started the book, I half expected a melodramatic pity party for a life beset by personal tragedy and self-destruction. On the contrary, Jen drew me into her story, the story of a girl I could hardly believe existed.
At one point, I reclined in a hot bath with Jen’s book in one hand and a cup of Earl Grey in the other. I looked at the cup, a commemorative mug, dated November 20, 1994, for the centennial anniversary of the facility at which my Beloved interned. I suddenly realized that at that very time, Jen had run away from home, 15 years old, and was living with her 19-year-old boyfriend. My Beloved was about to launch her career, and during the same autumn, Jen was about to launch herself into boyfriends and sex and statutory rape and the real thing, erotic dances for money, fights and alcohol and the battle for control and delusions and psychosis and abandonment— But through it all, Jen seemed so… normal to me. I genuinely sympathized with her, felt for her in her quest, desired to reach out to her and provide what I saw she was missing in her life. And I smiled when she finally began to find it.
This is the reason I read independent memoirs, to meet people I might never otherwise know, through them to live experiences I could never otherwise fathom, and to win victories I would never otherwise have even pursued. And Musical Chairs generously filled that need.
-TimK
|
Musical Chairs |
Available in… |
основанием для вызова специалиста является неспособность человека самостоятельно выйти из состояния непрерывного употребления алкоголя и наличие признаков абстиненции.
Подробнее можно узнать тут – срочный вывод из запоя сочи
узнать blsp sp
Вывод из запоя на дому в Сочи подходит пациентам, у которых нет признаков острого психоза, тяжелого отравления, судорог, потери сознания и других состояний, требующих немедленной госпитализации. Врач нарколог приезжает по адресу, проводит обследование, уточняет, сколько дней длится запой, какие препараты человек принимал, есть ли хронические болезни, аллергии, ограничения по здоровью и документы, подтверждающие прошлое лечение.
Разобраться лучше – вывод из запоя в сочи
https://clinicalpathiver.com/# stromectol in canada
https://www.gilmaire-etienne.com/
sportwetten bonus umsetzen
Stop by my homepage :: basketball euroleague wetten
Вывод из запоя на дому удобен, когда пациенту тяжело посещать клинику, когда близкого человека нельзя оставить одного или когда необходимо быстро получить помощь без поездки в больницы. Нарколог приезжает на место, проводит обследование, фиксирует жалобы, проверяет давление, пульс, насыщение кислородом, оценивает риски и затем назначает лечение запоя.
Получить дополнительную информацию – вывод из запоя на дому в сочи
п»їFarmacia online migliore: Farmacia online piГ№ conveniente – new pharmacy online
Вы получаете не просто разовую процедуру, а комплекс медицинской помощи. Врач нарколога может объяснить родственникам, как говорить с зависимым, что делать после капельницы, какие препараты принимать, когда необходимо лечение в клинике и почему кодирование алкоголизма или реабилитация часто становятся следующим этапом. Такой подход помогает не только вывести пациента из запоя, но и начать полноценное восстановление.
Получить дополнительную информацию – нарколог на дом вывод из запоя
перейти на сайт vodka casino
Farmacia online piГ№ conveniente: FarmaciaCaman – best online pharmacy
Вывод из запоя на дому в Сочи подходит пациентам, у которых нет признаков острого психоза, тяжелого отравления, судорог, потери сознания и других состояний, требующих немедленной госпитализации. Врач нарколог приезжает по адресу, проводит обследование, уточняет, сколько дней длится запой, какие препараты человек принимал, есть ли хронические болезни, аллергии, ограничения по здоровью и документы, подтверждающие прошлое лечение.
Получить дополнительные сведения – нарколог вывод из запоя сочи
royal ascot festival horse racing betting sites near me (Sadie) tips
Hi there! This post couldn’t be written any better! Reading this post
reminds me of my previous room mate! He always kept talking about this.
I will forward this page to him. Fairly certain he will
have a good read. Thank you for sharing!
how to make a wheel bet in horse race online betting app racing
casinos online regulados tiempo en casinos españa
выездная наркологическая служба оперативно приедет по указанному адресу, имея при себе все необходимое оборудование и медикаменты, в том числе для оказания неотложной помощи.
Исследовать вопрос подробнее – вывод из запоя цена
Very nice article. I definitely appreciate this site.
Continue the good work!
Временная регистрация в Москве востребована у людей, которые приезжают в город по работе, учебе, лечению или семейным обстоятельствам. Документально подтвержденное проживание помогает избежать лишних сложностей и делает пребывание в столице более комфортным: https://moskva-reg68.ru/vremennaya-registratsiya-v-moskve
Hi there, the whole thing is going fine here and
ofcourse every one is sharing information, that’s in fact fine, keep up writing.
farmacia online piГ№ conveniente FarmaciaCaman new pharmacy online
https://cyclecareclomid.com/# cost generic clomid no prescription
farmacia online senza ricetta: Farmacie online sicure – worldwide pharmacy
juegos de casino extra españa tragamonedas gratis por diversion de 5 tambores
El Casino aracena (https://Komodocards.Techzenau.com) blackjack
gratis
Hey I know this is off topic but I was wondering if you knew of any widgets I could add to my blog that automatically tweet my newest twitter updates.
I’ve been looking for a plug-in like this for quite some
time and was hoping maybe you would have some experience with something like this.
Please let me know if you run into anything. I truly enjoy reading your blog and I look forward to your new updates.
It’s remarkable to pay a quick visit this website and reading the
views of all friends regarding this piece of writing, while I am also keen of getting knowledge.
whoah this weblog is fantastic i really like reading your posts.
Stay up the good work! You realize, a lot of people
are looking round for this information, you can aid them greatly.
ruletas electronicas casinos
Also visit my site: juegos de casino gratis online sin descargar ni registrarse (Edythe)
Перейти на сайт водкабет
gaming club casino usa login, 21 dusaes casino and free spins no
deposit 2021 usa, or poker sites australia 2021
Visit my website play game earn money without investment (Oliva)
hey there and thank you for your information – I have definitely picked up anything new from right
here. I did however expertise some technical issues using this site,
since I experienced to reload the web site lots of times previous to
I could get it to load correctly. I had been wondering if your web hosting is OK?
Not that I am complaining, but slow loading instances times will very frequently affect your placement
in google and could damage your quality score if ads and marketing
with Adwords. Well I’m adding this RSS to my
email and can look out for much more of your respective fascinating content.
Ensure that you update this again very soon.
casino juegos de casino tragamonedas gratis para celular (Carri) madero