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… |
SildГ©nafil 100 mg sans ordonnance: Viagra vente libre pays – Viagra 100mg prix
https://sildfrancedelivery.icu/# Viagra pas cher livraison rapide france
wedden sites
Also visit my web site :: Basketball-Wetten.Com
juegos dados de precision casino (Roberta) casino gratis sin descargar 5 tambores
https://sildfrancedelivery.icu/# Viagra pas cher livraison rapide france
golf wedden de beste weddenschappen sites
op snooker wedden 2026
Here is my page – live sportweddenschappen (https://Basketball-Wetten.Com/)
Viagra pas cher paris: Quand une femme prend du Viagra homme – Viagra sans ordonnance pharmacie France
Hey there! This post could not be written any better!
Reading through this post reminds me of my previous room mate!
He always kept chatting about this. I will forward this article to him.
Fairly certain he will have a good read. Many thanks for sharing!
https://mexicanfastdelivery.top/# mexican drug stores
https://sildenafilsansordonnance.online/# Sildenafil teva 100 mg sans ordonnance
пакеты для кофе с клапаном дегазации Красивая кофе упаковка говорит покупателю о том, что внутри находится продукт высокого качества. Сделайте правильный выбор в пользу наших упаковочных решений.
https://sildfrancedelivery.icu/# Prix du Viagra 100mg en France
Looking for how to buy bitcoin guide? Visit btc-converter.com to use the BTC conversion tool and find out the current value of Bitcoin in US dollars. Enter the amount of Bitcoin and see the estimated dollar equivalent based on the live BTC/USD exchange rate. The tool is designed for quick checks before selling, trading, comparing wallet balances, or viewing cryptocurrency payment amounts. The converter handles everything from 1 BTC to smaller fractions and larger holdings, delivering clear dollar-based results for any amount.
Looking for cryptocurrency exchange api? CryptoSDK, available at cryptosdk.io, is a crypto exchange API designed for websites, apps, wallets, and digital services that need a native crypto exchange integrated directly into their product flow. The integration eliminates the need to forward users to a third-party frontend by keeping routing, rate search, verification, validation, order creation, and status tracking entirely within a single product environment.
1TRADE – https://1trade.io/ — an online trading platform for trading currency pairs on financial markets. Intuitive interface and functional trading tools. Advantages of the 1TRADE platform: Demo account for $100,000, Quick Platform Withdrawals, 24/7 support, Minimum deposit $10, Reliable broker, Mobile App.
Зеркало Casino и вход на основной ресурс Казино
Современные пользователи онлайн-казино нередко встречаются с трудностью блокировки подключения к выбранным гемблинг платформам. Именно для устранения этой проблемы действуют дублирующие порталы, о которых детально рассказано на https://wintheree.clients.site.
Что означает резервный портал казино
Дублирующий портал — это идентичная копия основного ресурса казино с отличным доменным адресом. Все функции, развлечения, поощрения и личный профиль сохраняются функционирующими на дублирующем портале.
Преимущества использования зеркал
Основное преимущество — преодоление блокировок со стороны интернет-компаний. Пользователи получают бесперебойный подключение к порталу в любое время. Регистрация и депозит дублируются мгновенно.
Как обнаружить рабочее альтернативный адрес
Имеется множество надежных путей:
– Регистрация на email-уведомления казино
– Обращение в отдел содействия
– Верифицированные общественные сети и страницы
– Тематические сообщества пользователей
Защита при работе с зеркал
Существенно использовать исключительно официальными зеркалами. Мошеннические сайты могут украсть конфиденциальные сведения и финансы. Проверяйте наличие SSL-сертификата и верность интерфейса.
Вход на основной сайт
Процедура логина через резервный портал полностью идентичен подключению на основном сайте. Применяйте те же учетные данные и пароль, что и обычно.
Резервные порталы Casino — это эффективный инструмент для постоянного входа к любимым развлечениям. Ключевое — следовать правила защиты и задействовать проверенные ресурсы сведений.