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… |
Genuinely when someone doesn’t know afterward its up
to other users that they will help, so here it takes place.
Your mode of describing all in this paragraph is genuinely good, all be capable of without difficulty be aware of it, Thanks a lot.
Smart GenRx USA: canadian pharmacy coupon – reputable canadian online pharmacies
внедрение и сопровождение 1с 1s-soprovozhdenie.ru .
trezviy vibor https://med-2c.ru/kak-proxodit-vyvod-iz-zapoya-na-domu-v-peterburge-podrobnyj-razbor-procedury-i-chego-ozhidat// .
My brother recommended I might like this web site. He was entirely
right. This post actually made my day. You cann’t imagine
just how much time I had spent for this information! Thanks!
http://smartgenrxusa.com/# canadadrugpharmacy com
zoloft pill: generic for zoloft – zoloft cheap
В этой публикации мы предлагаем подробные объяснения по актуальным вопросам, чтобы помочь читателям глубже понять их. Четкость и структурированность материала сделают его удобным для усвоения и применения в повседневной жизни.
Всё, что нужно знать – https://okamoto-alumi.jp/2019/12/12/%E5%B9%B4%E6%9C%AB%E5%B9%B4%E5%A7%8B%E4%BC%91%E6%A5%AD%E6%97%A5%E3%81%8A%E7%9F%A5%E3%82%89%E3%81%9B
mostbet ошибка платежа http://mostbet20394.help
mostbet экспресс ставка mostbet экспресс ставка
Highly descriptive post, I loved that a lot.
Will there be a part 2?
What i do not understood is in truth how you’re not actually a lot
more neatly-favored than you might be right now. You are very intelligent.
You know thus considerably on the subject of this topic, produced me
individually believe it from numerous varied angles. Its like women and men aren’t involved except it’s something to
accomplish with Lady gaga! Your own stuffs great.
All the time care for it up!
В этом интересном тексте собраны обширные сведения, которые помогут вам понять различные аспекты обсуждаемой темы. Мы разбираем детали и факты, делая акцент на важности каждого элемента. Не упустите возможность расширить свои знания и взглянуть на мир по-новому!
Узнать из первых рук – https://wearelight.house/blog/attention-all-speakers-entrepreneurs-educators-from-all-parts-of-the-world-2-2-2-2-2-2-2
В данной обзорной статье представлены интригующие факты, которые не оставят вас равнодушными. Мы критикуем и анализируем события, которые изменили наше восприятие мира. Узнайте, что стоит за новыми открытиями и как они могут изменить ваше восприятие реальности.
Подробная информация доступна по запросу – https://elitepropertiescr.com/property/two-story-modern-home-with-large-patio-in-los-reyes
Please let me know if you’re looking for a writer for your site.
You have some really good posts and I believe I would be a good asset.
If you ever want to take some of the load off, I’d absolutely love
to write some material for your blog in exchange
for a link back to mine. Please shoot me an e-mail if interested.
Regards!
rx pharmacy coupons: discount pharmacy – Smart GenRx USA
https://sertralineusa.shop/# zoloft without rx
While you produce extra Search engine marketing-friendly content,
you’ve extra opportunities to construct thematic relevance within your site.
The many varieties of link building methods have been listed below.
Replicate high-performing weblog content material: The company finds competitor weblog posts with excessive link volume and builds better assets round the identical
topic. When multiple pages cowl the same key phrase, chances are none cover it comprehensively.
Get featured on useful resource pages. Seeing which pages of competitors entice links is revealing,
not simply in quantity, but in context. Analyze competitor backlinks amounts to reviewing which web sites hyperlink to opponents
and identifying opportunities to earn similar or
higher placements. This serves as a hyperlink building
strategy by attracting backlinks naturally.
By writing informative and invaluable content material for other
web sites in your industry, you not only establish your self as an professional but in addition earn backlinks to your
own website. From social media to nontraditional advertising and marketing hacks,
this article will assist you determine what it actually takes to learn how to extend web site visitors in your store.
With a focus on highly effective and distinctive features to enhance gross sales,
Broadcast stands out as one of many premier Shopify themes for Website positioning, crafted by
Invisible Themes. They attain out to the referring domains with a pitch for updated or extra complete
content.
lucky jet mostbet играть онлайн lucky jet mostbet играть онлайн
Thanks for ones marvelous posting! I seriously enjoyed reading
it, you are a great author. I will be sure to bookmark your blog and will eventually come back later in life.
I want to encourage one to continue your great work, have a nice morning!