Smashbomb

"As narrated in his highly entertaining autobiography, over the course of his life Preston Sturges had a long string of failed schemes, inventions, films, and affairs. And it seems like he had the great fortune to find it all funny. The climax of Unfaithfully Yours, when every possible minor physical thing goes wrong in Rex Harrison’s murder plot, isn’t just perfect circus-like slapstick. It’s a downright celebration of the ways that record players, telephones, wicker chairs, and gloves are these ridiculous, weird contraptions we can barely use competently. We aren’t the masters of the physical world; it’s really a wonder we survive out there. This is the huge insight Unfaithfully Yours has over a film like Modern Times or any other techno-dystopia. Like, sure, sometimes machines crush the souls of humans into their perfectly calibrated gears. But most of the time, it’s a miracle if they fucking work."

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Kudos

The Opposite of Fate: Memories of a Writing Life

Amy Tan

10.0 (2 Ratings) Rate It

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Amy Tan has touched millions of readers with haunting and sympathetic novels of cultural complexity...

memoirs autobiography writing writer essays Chinese

Memoir of a Hockey Nobody

Jerry Hack

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Memoir of a Hockey Nobody is the unlikely true story of an average Canadian kid who grew up playing...

Biography Autobiography Sports

Who am I, again?

Lenny Henry

9.0 (1 Ratings) Rate It

Book

In his long-awaited autobiography, Sir Lenny Henry tells the extraordinary story of his early years...

comedy biography lenny henry

Beneath the Underdog

Charles Mingus

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Bass player extraordinaire Charles Mingus, who died in 1979, is one of the essential composers in...

Suswatibasu (1702 KP) rated Priestdaddy in Books

Sep 4, 2017

Priestdaddy

Patricia Lockwood | 2017 | Biography, Essays

9.0

(1 Ratings)

Book Rating

The eccentric and quirky life of a Catholic family

This is an intriguing memoir about the author's experiences of living in an unconventional, but highly religious family, with a Catholic gun-toting priest for a father. It is highly sarcastic, and hilarious at times, reading about Patricia Lockwood's family antics. When I first began this autobiography, I honestly believed it was set in the 1960s as her father disallows the sisters to go to college, instead spending money on guitars, and describing the effects of living next to a radioactive plant. But lo and behold, Lockwood is writing about only a decade ago.

She leads an eccentric lifestyle, following in her family's footsteps, writing poetry and travelling across the US after a marrying a man off the internet. But it also reveals her doubts about their customs and practices, and how she questions the function of the church - especially with claims of molestation. An interesting and enjoyable read.

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Joelene Marie (28 KP) rated How to Murder Your Life in Books

Oct 1, 2018

Compulsively readable, feels more like a novel than an autobiography. At times I found myself able to relate to her or almost feeling sorry for her, at least in regards to her childhood, while other times I found her to be truly obnoxious and off-putting, especially in not accepting responsibility for her actions. However, I enjoyed her style of writing and I commend her bravery in putting her life and her struggles with addiction out there for the world to see, and judge. I imagine that every author dreads the bad reviews but when it's a book about your life that has to sting twice as hard. Hopefully her story will inspire others dealing with the same issues to turn things around. Curious to see if/how she will continue her literary career, perhaps a novel will be in her future (I certainly hope so!) *Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC!*