Book review of “Lit” by Mary Karr
I have a Facebook friend who is a poet. I will call her Saadia. I have never met her in the “real world”, but I trust her opinion. We enjoy a few of the same authors. A few months ago she recommended a memoir to me. The book “Lit”, by Mary Karr. Saadia posted that I must read this book. And you all know how much I love a good book.
Turns out that Mary Karr is a poet. Saadia is a poet. I knew I was going to have to find this book and read it. So off to my friendly neighborhood library I went. Reserved it and waited only a day for it to arrive.
I must say, I had a little trouble getting into it at first. I knew I needed to give it a chance. I usually cruise through books quickly, but this was a memoir, someone’s life, so I gave it some respect.
“Lit” is actually Karr’s third memoir. She has a lot to say. She is funny and honest. All kidding aside, it is a very serious subject. It is about Mary’s road to sobriety and surrendering to a higher power. All this thru motherhood and coming to terms with her own childhood. Mary Karr is a tough Texan. I love her. And by the end of this book I could feel myself crashing as I looked back at the last 10 years of my life. Becoming a mother. Getting divorced. Getting remarried. Burying my mother. For the record, 10 is just a number, I think anyone could look back and be overwhelmed as they try to examine a period of their life and take it all in…
Every chapter has a title and a quote from literature. I loved this. A memoir written by a poet, lends a different level of depth. She truly has a gift and I am so glad she shared…
Over the years I have read a few books about performers who were party animals. Brilliant actors who partied and drank themselves thru their “mundane” life off the stage. These stories are interesting but I cannot read too many of them. Curiosity is not enough… Mary’s story was different. As I said, it took me a while to get into this book. I had to try to be loyal to Saadia’s recommendation, I had to keep reading the book and get attached to it. I did. I was searching for empathy, not just reading out of curiosity. Mary became a mother. I found my empathy…
Motherhood came to me when I was 35. I am lucky to have two wonderful daughters. They truly changed my life and I know they are a gift from God. They are still young enough for me to remember accurately what new motherhood was like…
“Lit” really becomes an excellent book when you are in her journey and struggle thru recovery. It seems, and I have heard this from a few alcoholics, that the “not drinking” part is not difficult. It is the struggle to find meaning in their life without it that is difficult. Staying on that path. Asking for help and trusting in a higher power. Surrendering.
Mary’s retelling of this period in her life is so poignant. It really moved me. Life goes on while you struggle. Parents age. Relationships waver. There is never enough money….She recalls many people that influenced and helped her. And she began living the life she always wanted.
I want to thank Mary Karr for this book. She is an honest and brave woman. Reading this book also me made look back and recognize what it takes to try to live the life you have always wanted.
I also want to thank Saadia for her passionate recommendation. You can find Saadia and her poetry at www.SaadiaOnline.com .
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Girl Crush
Book Review of “The Help” by Kathryn Stockett.
I love it when someone recommends a book to read. It happens anywhere. A total stranger sizes you up in about 5 minutes…You could be standing around at a bookstore looking at the biography section. Someone will walk up and toss a great memoir at you. Or you could be watching a favorite show on HBO such as “In Treatment” and the main character is telling someone about a great book. I read “The Memory of Running” last year because it was talked about on that show. It was my favorite book last year….
I work at a donut shop. Amy Joy Donut. It is not a hipster joint, it’s a coffee and donut shop in Shaker Hts, Ohio. On Cleveland’s east side. An integrated, middleclass neighborhood. I love it. Gets me out of the bubble I reside in…
A few weeks ago a woman came into the shop, bought a cup of coffee and sat down. She had some time to kill. Not a regular customer. I was chatting with a few of the regulars that were in. I had a book with me and we were dishing about it. I wish I could remember what it was…Anyways the woman joined in our conversation. She asked me if I had read “The Help” by Kathryn Stockett. I hadn’t, but I put the title in my phone. I stopped at the library and reserved it. It is still in hardback and on the bestseller list…
I was fortunate to get it last week. I finished it in a few days. I don’t want to say that I couldn’t put it down, but it is a quick read. The story shifts first person every few chapters. Kathryn Stockett does a great job of taking you back to three women’s lives in Jackson, Mississippi in the early 1960’s.
“The Help” is about three women in Jackson, Mississippi in 1962. Aibileen is a black maid raising her 17th white child. Minnie is also a black maid but tends to lose her jobs because she has a sassy mouth. Miss Skeeter is a 22 year old white woman. She returns home with a college degree and finds that her beloved maid, Constantine is gone.
Many of Skeeter friends are married with children. They have the Junior League and bridge games. They all have black maids. It is Jackson, Mississippi in 1962. Segregation in the south is the norm. Skeeter is not married or even engaged. In fact, she still lives with her parents. She would love to be a writer…
Skeeter gets a job at a local newspaper writing the Miss Myrna column. It is a household hints type of column. Since Skeeter has no talent in the domestic area, she asks her friend Elizabeth’s black maid, Aibileen for some hints. A writing project begins…
Kathryn Stockett paints a picture of how difficult this might have been back then. The lines were clearly defined. Skeeter is not sure she can follow these rules. She feels differently than many of the women in this town. And she is struggling to find her voice in all of it. She and Aibileen and Minnie come together to write a book about being a black maid and working for white families in the segregated south. It is a dangerous project that could put them and their families in great danger. But all are dedicated to this for their own reasons...
When I read a book, I am always searching for some character to empathize with. The main characters in this book are women. Different types of women. Different races. Different social classes. But all women. I have often thought that women should be able to relate to one another, no matter what, on some level. I try to be faithful to that notion. But I cannot even imagine what it would be like to have lived back then. To have such tolerated division among people, here in America.
I found the women and their strength lovely. And their passion to have their voices heard, (even anonymously), amazing. Women are tough and always have been. And women as mothers and sisters and individuals are to be admired.
“The Help” is a beautiful book. It is Kathryn Stockett’s first novel. She is from Jackson, Mississippi. At the end of the book she writes, in her own words, why she wrote the novel. I read that section twice before I actually understood what she meant. I am grateful that she wrote this book. I know there will be more great books from Kathryn Stockett. The honesty she gives her characters is magnificent. I look forward to reading more from her…
I love it when someone recommends a book to read. It happens anywhere. A total stranger sizes you up in about 5 minutes…You could be standing around at a bookstore looking at the biography section. Someone will walk up and toss a great memoir at you. Or you could be watching a favorite show on HBO such as “In Treatment” and the main character is telling someone about a great book. I read “The Memory of Running” last year because it was talked about on that show. It was my favorite book last year….
I work at a donut shop. Amy Joy Donut. It is not a hipster joint, it’s a coffee and donut shop in Shaker Hts, Ohio. On Cleveland’s east side. An integrated, middleclass neighborhood. I love it. Gets me out of the bubble I reside in…
A few weeks ago a woman came into the shop, bought a cup of coffee and sat down. She had some time to kill. Not a regular customer. I was chatting with a few of the regulars that were in. I had a book with me and we were dishing about it. I wish I could remember what it was…Anyways the woman joined in our conversation. She asked me if I had read “The Help” by Kathryn Stockett. I hadn’t, but I put the title in my phone. I stopped at the library and reserved it. It is still in hardback and on the bestseller list…
I was fortunate to get it last week. I finished it in a few days. I don’t want to say that I couldn’t put it down, but it is a quick read. The story shifts first person every few chapters. Kathryn Stockett does a great job of taking you back to three women’s lives in Jackson, Mississippi in the early 1960’s.
“The Help” is about three women in Jackson, Mississippi in 1962. Aibileen is a black maid raising her 17th white child. Minnie is also a black maid but tends to lose her jobs because she has a sassy mouth. Miss Skeeter is a 22 year old white woman. She returns home with a college degree and finds that her beloved maid, Constantine is gone.
Many of Skeeter friends are married with children. They have the Junior League and bridge games. They all have black maids. It is Jackson, Mississippi in 1962. Segregation in the south is the norm. Skeeter is not married or even engaged. In fact, she still lives with her parents. She would love to be a writer…
Skeeter gets a job at a local newspaper writing the Miss Myrna column. It is a household hints type of column. Since Skeeter has no talent in the domestic area, she asks her friend Elizabeth’s black maid, Aibileen for some hints. A writing project begins…
Kathryn Stockett paints a picture of how difficult this might have been back then. The lines were clearly defined. Skeeter is not sure she can follow these rules. She feels differently than many of the women in this town. And she is struggling to find her voice in all of it. She and Aibileen and Minnie come together to write a book about being a black maid and working for white families in the segregated south. It is a dangerous project that could put them and their families in great danger. But all are dedicated to this for their own reasons...
When I read a book, I am always searching for some character to empathize with. The main characters in this book are women. Different types of women. Different races. Different social classes. But all women. I have often thought that women should be able to relate to one another, no matter what, on some level. I try to be faithful to that notion. But I cannot even imagine what it would be like to have lived back then. To have such tolerated division among people, here in America.
I found the women and their strength lovely. And their passion to have their voices heard, (even anonymously), amazing. Women are tough and always have been. And women as mothers and sisters and individuals are to be admired.
“The Help” is a beautiful book. It is Kathryn Stockett’s first novel. She is from Jackson, Mississippi. At the end of the book she writes, in her own words, why she wrote the novel. I read that section twice before I actually understood what she meant. I am grateful that she wrote this book. I know there will be more great books from Kathryn Stockett. The honesty she gives her characters is magnificent. I look forward to reading more from her…
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Control Freak
Movie Review of "Hot Tub Time Machine".
I love to go to the movie theater. And me and my fav comic go to the movies 2 to 3 times a month. We try to choose a movie that would be great to see on the big screen. Some movies can wait for cable, demand or DVD. It was about time for us to see a good, mindless comedy. I wanted to laugh. But I can be pretty tough on the funny. For instance, I thought “The Hangover” was lame and am not afraid to tell anyone. It fell short of the premise. I think it won the Golden Globe last January only because the competition sucked… Although I am willing to give it another try on DVD. OK, ok , force me to look at that sexy Bradley Cooper for 2 hours again. I will if I HAVE to…I am going to see “The A-Team” because he is in it and for no other reason. I digress…
The movie we chose to see was “Hot Tub Time Machine”. I loved it. )For the record so did my fav comic, but he can write his own review). In fact, I want to be in the sequel so I can hangout with John Cusack. I have always loved his movies. I could go on and on about his stuff. I still laugh every time I think of “I want my 2 dollars” from “Better Off Dead”. And that movie was out around 1986. (1985, close enough). I graduated from Kent State University in 1986. HTTM (Hot Tub Time Machine) takes 4 guys back to 1986. So I was digging it…
HTTM is a movie about 4 friends. Three of them went to high school together. The 4th one is a nephew. Lou, (Rob Corddry), is a loser who likes to party and has alienated many of his friends. Adam, (John Cusack), just got dumped royally by his live in girlfriend. Nick, (Craig Robinson), has a wife that is a little too much in charge of everything. Jacob,(Clark Duke), is Adam’s nephew. He hangs out in Adam’s basement and spends too much time playing video games, etc. The 4 of them take a weekend getaway to a ski lodge they used to go to when they were in high school. Well, 3 of them were in high school. Jacob wasn’t even born yet.
The lodge is now a broken down dump, much like their lives. They stay anyways and get their old suite. They reminisce and party. Get drunk in the hot tub and POOF, end up back in 1986. While they are trying to get back to 2010, they realize they must retrace the weekend exactly as it happened in 1986 so they can return to the lives they left before they went into time machine….
Of course, they all decide that they can change their mediocre lives and be happier if they twist fate a bit. There are a lot of tempting ‘what ifs’ in the movie. Which got me to thinking…if I could go back to 1986 and change anything to tweak my future (which is now), would I? What would I have done differently…
I already said that I was in college in1986. Life was good. I was working on BS degree. I had a steady boyfriend who was a lot of fun. Drank a lot of alcohol. Worked out too much. Did a few things I shouldn’t have. But survived…
I write and talk a lot about enjoying the ride. Is the time spent worth the payoff. I may seem like a control freak but really I am your typical female, who like things done the way she likes them done. Now men will not understand that last sentence (unless you have gone down the same road twice)…But all the women know what I am talking about. And you have to live a little. Live deep into your 30’s or 40’s to get it. I am all about the ride…If it isn’t fun, I want to make it fun…Or I will pester you until I have fun. I am petulant sometimes. And a handful, at other times. And charming, the rest of the time.
So if I could change one thing that happened to me on a given weekend back then, I wouldn’t. I figure it got me here, writing to you all, for no money. And it is good enough for me. Why would I want to do anything else… I was broke in the 80’s. And I am still broke today. But I have everything I need. Good kids. Good husband who makes me laugh and cry. And he tests the boundaries of my sanity at least twice a day. So I have THAT going for me…
I actually have it pretty good….
I will not tell you how the movie plays out. I will tell you it is a movie about hindsight, missed opportunities and what if. It is a funny, funny movie that I want to see again. There are some great cameo appearances and a flashback from another John Cusack movie. The music is great. And the laughs are many. This movie accomplishes what it set out to do. Go see it if you want to laugh. That’s why I went. To laugh. And I did…
I love to go to the movie theater. And me and my fav comic go to the movies 2 to 3 times a month. We try to choose a movie that would be great to see on the big screen. Some movies can wait for cable, demand or DVD. It was about time for us to see a good, mindless comedy. I wanted to laugh. But I can be pretty tough on the funny. For instance, I thought “The Hangover” was lame and am not afraid to tell anyone. It fell short of the premise. I think it won the Golden Globe last January only because the competition sucked… Although I am willing to give it another try on DVD. OK, ok , force me to look at that sexy Bradley Cooper for 2 hours again. I will if I HAVE to…I am going to see “The A-Team” because he is in it and for no other reason. I digress…
The movie we chose to see was “Hot Tub Time Machine”. I loved it. )For the record so did my fav comic, but he can write his own review). In fact, I want to be in the sequel so I can hangout with John Cusack. I have always loved his movies. I could go on and on about his stuff. I still laugh every time I think of “I want my 2 dollars” from “Better Off Dead”. And that movie was out around 1986. (1985, close enough). I graduated from Kent State University in 1986. HTTM (Hot Tub Time Machine) takes 4 guys back to 1986. So I was digging it…
HTTM is a movie about 4 friends. Three of them went to high school together. The 4th one is a nephew. Lou, (Rob Corddry), is a loser who likes to party and has alienated many of his friends. Adam, (John Cusack), just got dumped royally by his live in girlfriend. Nick, (Craig Robinson), has a wife that is a little too much in charge of everything. Jacob,(Clark Duke), is Adam’s nephew. He hangs out in Adam’s basement and spends too much time playing video games, etc. The 4 of them take a weekend getaway to a ski lodge they used to go to when they were in high school. Well, 3 of them were in high school. Jacob wasn’t even born yet.
The lodge is now a broken down dump, much like their lives. They stay anyways and get their old suite. They reminisce and party. Get drunk in the hot tub and POOF, end up back in 1986. While they are trying to get back to 2010, they realize they must retrace the weekend exactly as it happened in 1986 so they can return to the lives they left before they went into time machine….
Of course, they all decide that they can change their mediocre lives and be happier if they twist fate a bit. There are a lot of tempting ‘what ifs’ in the movie. Which got me to thinking…if I could go back to 1986 and change anything to tweak my future (which is now), would I? What would I have done differently…
I already said that I was in college in1986. Life was good. I was working on BS degree. I had a steady boyfriend who was a lot of fun. Drank a lot of alcohol. Worked out too much. Did a few things I shouldn’t have. But survived…
I write and talk a lot about enjoying the ride. Is the time spent worth the payoff. I may seem like a control freak but really I am your typical female, who like things done the way she likes them done. Now men will not understand that last sentence (unless you have gone down the same road twice)…But all the women know what I am talking about. And you have to live a little. Live deep into your 30’s or 40’s to get it. I am all about the ride…If it isn’t fun, I want to make it fun…Or I will pester you until I have fun. I am petulant sometimes. And a handful, at other times. And charming, the rest of the time.
So if I could change one thing that happened to me on a given weekend back then, I wouldn’t. I figure it got me here, writing to you all, for no money. And it is good enough for me. Why would I want to do anything else… I was broke in the 80’s. And I am still broke today. But I have everything I need. Good kids. Good husband who makes me laugh and cry. And he tests the boundaries of my sanity at least twice a day. So I have THAT going for me…
I actually have it pretty good….
I will not tell you how the movie plays out. I will tell you it is a movie about hindsight, missed opportunities and what if. It is a funny, funny movie that I want to see again. There are some great cameo appearances and a flashback from another John Cusack movie. The music is great. And the laughs are many. This movie accomplishes what it set out to do. Go see it if you want to laugh. That’s why I went. To laugh. And I did…
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