BostonMom

I *really* wanted to like this book. Maybe diehard devotees of Jenny Lawson's blog might like it more than I. I thought some of her essays were great, but couldn't stand an entire book of her. It was just... too forced.

No.

Probably not.

I would have trimmed a lot from the book as a whole. Jenny is witty and touching, but her sarcasm and schtick wore thin on me after the first half of the book. Her journey of self-awareness feels contrived and forced--- as if her editor told her that she had to summarize what she learned and how she grew from each anecdote. Her essay about miscarriage and living with chronic illness was really powerful and moving. Her father is fascinating, as is her upbringing. I would have liked to hear more about her parents.

And whoever told her to SING the chapter titles should be fired. That was just cringe-inducing.

I love Maddow's methodical research-based approach to military history. To think about large scale things in general is hard (i.e. trillion dollar budgets, impacts of a nuclear explosion, etc.) Maddow does a GREAT job of making it all relatable, thinkable and understandable.

It's always great to listen to a book read by the author in her own voice.

As a child of the 80s, I found her detailed examination of Reagan's presidency, including the invasion of Grenada illuminating. I was also surprised and awestruck by the number and scope of U.S. nuclear weapon accidents and quiet reparations throughout history. It's rather scary.

I am a huge HUGE Maddow fan, but even I found her dripping sarcasm a bit much in this book. It actually gets in the way at times. The message can easily sound like "look how stupid these people are" instead of a deeper exposure of what forces were pressuring people in our administrations (both Democratics and Republicans) to do stupid things and how we might change and prevent them in the future.