Title: Let’s Pretend This Never Happened

Author: Jenny Lawson

Genre: Memoir

Publisher: Amy Einhorn Book/Putnam

Publication date: April 17th, 2012

Hardcover: 318 pages

 

Ok, peeps. This is one book that is sure to get mixed reviews.  Even I didn’t know what to think about it half the time.

That was supposed to be a compliment. I think.

It’s the “mostly true” memoir of Jenny Lawson, better known as internet celebrity, The Bloggess. The “mostly true” quip coming from Jenny herself, in her defense against possible lawsuits. If this doesn’t give you an idea of what her memoir will do to your mind, I’m disappointed. I would have thought you had more snark in you.

Jenny shares her traumatized childhood that resulted from growing up with an eccentric Texan Taxidermist who would regularly stick his hand in dead animals and make them talk as if they were puppets. Her father.

Yes, you read right. Shudder…

Then there’s the stories about swimming in an open-air cistern meant for pigs, artificially inseminating cows, becoming a three-year-old arsonist… But I’ll stop now, because I wouldn’t want to give away any spoilers that would prevent you from rushing to buy the book.

What’s that? You want a quote from the book? You want to make sure she’s as funny as you hear?

Certainly…

“Victor kind of rolled his eyes when his mom went on about all the debutante balls Victor had gone to with these girls, and I nodded, trying to look politely interested.

Then she asked me when I came out, and I said, “Oh, I’m not gay. I’m dating your son,” which I thought was pretty clear to being with.

On the way home, Victor explained that ‘coming out’ is what debutantes do when they reach womanhood…

Need I say more?

The only thing I would caution against would be that of reading this within the vicinity of the chip-on-his-shoulder-co-worker, or your laugh-and-you-die-boss at work. If you laugh too hard, people might get the idea you’re enjoying yourself.

Another reason to not read the book would be if you are one of the lucky many who posses the uncanny ability of getting easily offended. Also, if you are not a fan of the F-word, the S-word, or many more shocking words, I would probably advise you to save yourself a stomach ulcer and not read the book. There. You have been warned and duly noted. You’re welcome and kudos to me.

Over-all writing style is okish. Jenny tends to wander a lot, and it reads more like a rambling blog post than an actual book. Now although I get that it was intentional (her rambling/hilarious/random blog posts are what she’s famous for), it still made my head spin a little. It’s one thing to read a 500+ rambling blog post, but it’s quite another to read 300+ pages of rambling narratives.

 

Because of this, on a scale of 1-5, I really can’t give it a 4.