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… |
QQ88 là nền tảng giải trí trực tuyến được xây dựng nhằm tối ưu trải nghiệm người dùng, hỗ trợ truy cập nhanh, giao diện mượt và khả năng vận hành ổn định trên nhiều thiết bị.
https://amitrip.us.com/# Generic Elavil
read what he said https://jaxxwallet-web.org/
Generic Elavil: Generic Elavil – Generic Elavil
https://follicle.us.com/# Follicle Insight
Generic Elavil: AmiTrip – buy Elavil
Derby match live scores, rivalry games with extra intensity tracked live
Iver Protocols Guide: Iver Protocols Guide – ivermectin 5 mg price
https://amitrip.us.com/# AmiTrip
https://fertilitypctguide.us.com/# fertility pct guide
generic clomid without dr prescription: fertility pct guide – fertility pct guide
La base central de AviaMasters es su innovador gameplay aГ©reo. No como en la mayorГa de tГtulos del gГ©nero, aquГ no solo observas, sino que tambiГ©n experimentas la emociГіn de cada jugada clave.
https://aviamasters.nom.es/
Iver Protocols Guide Iver Protocols Guide ivermectin 3 mg tablet dosage
Капельница от запоя — это комплексная процедура, направленная на быстрое выведение токсинов, нормализацию обменных процессов и восстановление жизненно важных функций организма. Врачи-наркологи подбирают индивидуальный состав капельницы, исходя из состояния пациента. В стандартный набор препаратов обычно входят:
Выяснить больше – сколько стоит капельница от запоя сочи
https://amitrip.us.com/# AmiTrip
Generic Elavil: AmiTrip Relief Store – Generic Elavil
AmiTrip Relief Store Generic Elavil AmiTrip
cost of cheap propecia now: Follicle Insight – Follicle Insight
Группа препаратов
Подробнее можно узнать тут – капельница от запоя стоимость сочи
qq88 là nhà cái uy tín số 1 vn mang đến kho game ấn tượng cùng hàn ngàn ưu đãi hấp dẫn
https://follicle.us.com/# order generic propecia for sale
https://fertilitypctguide.us.com/# fertility pct guide
https://jasonejohnson11.blogspot.com/2026/01/creating-cozy-home-library-for-ultimate.html
Selecting a space heater can be surprisingly nuanced once you start comparing brands like Comfort Glow with other home heating options. Differences in build quality, heating method, and ease of use become more noticeable after reading real usage feedback.
I found that looking beyond spec sheets and focusing on how heaters perform in everyday home conditions makes the decision easier. Reliability, safety features, and consistent warmth tend to matter more than flashy features in the long run.
fertility pct guide: how to get generic clomid without insurance – buy cheap clomid
clomid no prescription: fertility pct guide – fertility pct guide
Кодирование не является чудесным выключателем тяги, но оно может стать сильным инструментом, который помогает закрепить решение бросить пить и даёт организму время восстановиться. Врач формирует у пациента устойчивую установку на отказ от алкоголя и подкрепляет её медикаментозно или психотерапевтически. При этом важен не только сам факт процедуры, но и то, как она встроена в общий план лечения: была ли проведена детоксикация, есть ли поддерживающая терапия, подключена ли реабилитация, работает ли семья с собственным выгоранием и созависимостью. Именно поэтому обращение за кодированием по месту жительства в Королёве удобно: можно не только выполнить саму процедуру, но и организовать наблюдение, при необходимости скорректировать тактику, не уезжая далеко от дома.
Исследовать вопрос подробнее – kodirovanie-ot-alkogolizma-posledstviya
https://fertilitypctguide.us.com/# fertility pct guide
You really make it seem so easy with your presentation but I find this topic to be really something that I think I would never understand. It seems too complicated and extremely broad for me. I’m looking forward for your next post, I’ll try to get the hang of it!
AmiTrip Relief Store: AmiTrip Relief Store – AmiTrip